Decontamination of Novichok victim Sergai Skripal's Salisbury home begins
The two men alleged to have been behind the poisoning have been identified as members of Russia's military intelligence service
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Work is starting to decontaminate the home of Novichok poisoning victim Sergei Skripal.
The operation at the house in Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, is part of a scheduled programme of ongoing decontamination.
It is being planned and overseen by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in partnership with Wiltshire council and carried out by specialist military teams.
The remediation work will start with ground preparation after which the team will remove items from the property.
After decontamination is undertaken at a site, further sampling is carried out to ensure the site is safe to be released.
A cordon is in place so that police investigations or clean-up work can be carried out safely and will remain in place until the decontamination has been completed.
Counter-terrorism officers believe the house is where Mr Skripal, a former Russian agent, and his daughter Yulia were contaminated with nerve agent on 4 March, after a high concentration of the chemical weapon was found on the front door.
The two men alleged to have been behind the March poisoning – Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – have been identified by the UK as members of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.
The Skripals were left critically ill after exposed to the military grade nerve agent, but were later released from hospital.
Press Association
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments