Ex-spy poisoned by Novichok handed lad bread for ducks AFTER exposure to nerve agent ‘that could have killed 1,000s’ --[Reported by Umva mag]

A FORMER spy who was poisoned by Novichok handed a young boy bread to feed the ducks after being exposed to the deadly nerve agent.

New CCTV images show suspected Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia – the intended targets of the Salisbury poisonings – walking around after unknowingly being poisoned.

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Sergei Skripal can be seen handing bread to a young boy after he and his daughter Yulia were exposed to Novichok[/caption]

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The poison was kept in a perfume bottle that contained enough Novichok ‘to kill thousands of people’[/caption]

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Two men using the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were formally accused of attempting to murder Sergei and Yulia[/caption]

The deadly nerve agent was spread on the handle of their front door and later concealed in a perfume bottle that contained “enough poison to kill thousands of people”.

On the day they came into contact with the substance in March 2018, the pair went into a pub and Sergei even gave a child bread while they stopped to feed some ducks.

They also visited a Zizzi’s restaurant before sitting down to relax on a park bench – where they eventually collapsed.

The CCTV images were shown during the inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess who was “caught in the crossfire” and tragically died four months later.

Sergei and Yulia survived the Novichok poisoning after a gruelling stint in hospital.

The duo spent two years hauled up in an MI5 safe house, and are understood to have relocated to a secret location overseas.

Mum-of-three Dawn, 44, came across the substance after her boyfriend Charlie Rowley, 45, who was also seriously ill, gave her a perfume bottle later found to contain Novichok.

Charlie had found the Nina Ricci bottle, discarded by the Russian poisoners seven miles away from the Salisbury attack, and innocently gifted it to Dawn.

Heartbreaking CCTV footage revealed the mum’s final moments before she succumbed to the nerve agent.

She was pictured wearing a pink summer dress and straw hat walking around the nearby town of Amesbury.

The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Lord Hughes of Ombersley, began on Monday at The Guildhall in Salisbury.

Andrew O’Connor KC, counsel to the Dawn Sturgess inquiry, told the hearing: “When Ms Sturgess was poisoned by Novichok four months after the Skripal poisoning, the real possibility emerged that she had been caught – an innocent victim – in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt.

“Whether or not that is in fact what happened will, of course, be for you to determine.”

He added: “A particularly shocking feature of Dawn’s death is that she unwittingly applied the poison to her own skin.

“She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced, because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed – carefully and deliberately concealed – inside a perfume bottle.

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More CCTV tracking the movements of the father-daughter duo on the day of their poisoning[/caption]

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Sergei and Yulia were found collapsed on a park bench hours after being exposed to Novichok[/caption]

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Yulia Skripal, and her father, are believed to have moved to a secret location overseas[/caption]

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Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were spotted on CCTV in Salisbury[/caption]

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Forensic teams in hazmat suits working where the father and daughter were found[/caption]

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Dawn Sturgess, 44, died in July after being exposed to the discarded Novichok[/caption]

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CCTV footage revealed the last known movements of Dawn before she was killed by the poison[/caption]

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“She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced, because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed – carefully and deliberately concealed – inside a perfume bottle.

“Moreover, the evidence will suggest that this bottle – which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people – must earlier have been left somewhere in public place creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.”

He added it could be determined those who threw away the bottle “acted with a grotesque disregard for human life”.

At the inquiry, Dawn’s family described her as an “intelligent, funny, extremely selfless and very kind person”.

She was also a “very loved mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin and friend”.

A tribute written by Dawn’s mother Caroline Sturgess read: “She always cared deeply for her family and many friends that surrounded her.

“She did not judge a single person and strived to make others happy even when she didn’t feel like smiling herself.”

The hearing also heard from Sergei, via a statement, to protect his safety it was decided he and his daughter would not attend in person.

He said: “I believe Putin makes all important decisions himself. I therefore think he must have at least given permission for the attack on Yulia and me.

“Any GRU commander taking a decision like this without Putin’s permission would have been severely punished.

“That is what I meant when I said ‘special services in Russia will do nothing again without permission Putin’ that he ordered the attack is my private opinion, based on my years of experience and my analysis of the continuous degradation of Russia. I do not have concrete evidence to support this.”

The former spy claimed when he was working in GRU special services he was told of allegations that “Putin had been involved in illegal activity to do with the disposal of rare metals”.

He also said he believed poisoning was a “KGB technique” because it is “not honourable”.

Sergei highlighted the poisoning of Litvinenko in 2006 and said he has read claims that “Putin is personally very interested in poison”.

“I think Yulia was right in principle when she said ‘If [the Russian government] want to kill you they will find a way anywhere'”, he added.

“Nobody can be protected 100% from an assassin, especially one who plans carefully or is prepared to die.”

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A counterfeit perfume box that was discovered by nerve agent victim Charlie Rowley[/caption]

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A counterfeit bottle of perfume that was recovered from Charlie Rowley’s home after he and his partner Dawn Sturgess were poisoned[/caption]

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Russian spy Denis Sergeev, who used the alias Sergey Fedotov while in the UK, also faces a string of charges including trying to kill Sergei and Yulia, as well as ex-police officer Nick Bailey[/caption]

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CCTV of Sergeev arriving at London Heathrow[/caption]

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