Bulgarian angle in UK poisoning case: report

One of the suspects in the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English town of Salisbury in March last year has been identified by investigators as Sergey Fedotov, British media have reported.

According to Bulgarian media, a Russian who used documents naming him as Sergey Fedotov stayed in a Sofia hotel in 2015.

The hotel was located near the office of Bulgarian businessman Emilian Gebrev, who was poisoned by unknown perpetrators with a substance that works similarly to the nerve agent Novichok, according to reports.

Businessman survived poisoning

Gebrev, a veteran of the Bulgarian arms industry who reportedly supplied arms to Ukraine, survived the poisoning.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reported that a preliminary probe into Gebrev’s poisoning found traces of the toxic insecticide chlorpyrifos in his coffee and food, but no substance banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention such as Novichok.

Novichok

Meanwhile, Skripal, a former Russian intelligence agent convicted of spying for Britain, and his daughter Yulia were left fighting for their lives after they were exposed to Novichok in Salisbury, a picturesque city near the famous ancient ruins of Stonehenge on March 5 last year.

In response to the incident, London last March expelled 23 Russian diplomats believed to be intelligence agents.

Poland expelled four Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated international response to the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said at the time that Britain had been targeted in an "unprecedented attack which was the first deliberate use of chemical weapons against a group of civilians in Europe in the history of post-war Europe.”

Moscow has denied allegations of Russian involvement.

(pk)

Source: svoboda.org/.rferl.org/Polish Radio