You're reading: Reuters: Watchdog confirms that Skripals were poisoned with nerve agent

Reuters: Watchdog confirms that Skripals were poisoned with nerve agent

Published April 12, 2018. Updated April 12 at 4:58 pm

Russia's deputy General Prosecutor Saak Karapetyan looks on during a press briefing on the Skripal case on April 9, 2018 in Moscow. Relations between London and Moscow have plumbed new depths following the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4. The conditions of the Skripals has continued to improve, with the ex-spy no longer in critical condition, the hospital treating him said on April 6, and his daughter stating her strength was "growing daily". / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Photo by AFP

The lethal poison that struck down a former Russian spy and his daughter last month in England was a highly pure type of Novichok nerve agent, the global chemical weapons watchdog concluded on Thursday, backing Britain’s findings.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service, and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench in the English cathedral city of Salisbury on March 4.