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Russia claims it could have been in interests of Britain to poison Sergei Skripal Russia claims it could have been in interests of Britain to poison Sergei Skripal
(35 minutes later)
The Russian foreign minister has reportedly suggested it could have been in Britain's interests to poison its former agent Sergei Skripal. The Russian foreign minister has suggested Britain may have poisoned its former agent Sergei Skripal as the Kremlin continues to deny involvement.
“There are other explanations, experts tell us, and they say that it may well be beneficial to the British special services, who are known for their ability to act with license to kill,” Sergei Lavrov told a press conference. Sergei Lavrov told a press conference there were “other explanations” over who may have targeted the former Russian double agent in Salisbury.
“[The nerve agent attack] could be beneficial to the British government, which has found itself in an difficult situation, unable to fulfil promises they made about [conditions of] Brexit.” “Experts tell us that it may well be beneficial to the British special services, who are known for their ability to act with license to kill,” he said.
In times of Cold War there were some rules, but now Britain and the United States had dropped all propriety and were playing children's games, he claimed. “[The nerve agent attack] could be beneficial to the British government, which has found itself in a difficult situation, unable to fulfil promises they made about [conditions of] Brexit.”
Russia has denied involvement on the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
The UK accused Vladimir Putin's government of culpability after identifying the nerve agent used as Soviet-developed novichok.The UK accused Vladimir Putin's government of culpability after identifying the nerve agent used as Soviet-developed novichok.
Theresa May said Russia had failed to explain how it could have lost control of the weapon, meaning it must have been involved in the attack itself. Theresa May said Russia had failed to explain how it could have lost control of the weapon, meaning it must have been involved in the attack itself – an accusation the Kremlin denies.
Conspiracy theories blaming the UK have been circulating online since news first emerged of the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia on 4 March.
They have been amplified by Russian state media outlets including the English language website Sputnik, which ran an editorial four days later arguing that “given their inveterate anti-Russian agenda, the British authorities have much more vested interest in seeing Skripal poisoned than the Kremlin ever would”.
Commentators have suggested supposed motives of the “false flag” attack including smearing Russia, damaging Vladimir Putin ahead of last month’s election or even to distract from a grooming scandal in Telford.
Supporters of the theory rely on the unsubstantiated assertion that Britain or its allies synthesised novichoks themselves following the fall of the Soviet Union, although some Russian officials have denied the weapon was ever created.
Ben Nimmo, of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said many Russian news articles furthering the claims were based on “interviews with former security chiefs and weird commentators” with no expertise or credibility.
He told The Independent a mounting disinformation campaign was using the “same techniques” as those seen after incidents including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 using a missile from Russia.
“You can think of them as dismiss, distort, distract and dismay,” Mr Nimmo said, saying conspiracies were part of distraction techniques.
The Kremlin has reacted angrily to the expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and its allies, starting tit-for-tat expulsions.
"It’s too obvious that out British colleagues are playing a game - we will insist on clarifying all facts and establishing the truth,” Mr Lavrov said.
 "Our western partners have forgotten about good manners and have resorted to outright lies and misinformation.”
Additional reporting by Oliver Carroll in Moscow