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Salisbury spy poisoning: Yulia Skripal says she is 'lucky to have survived' and would one day like to go home to Russia Salisbury spy poisoning: Yulia Skripal says she is 'lucky to have survived' and would one day like to go home to Russia
(35 minutes later)
Yulia Skripal has said she feels lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life.Yulia Skripal has said she feels lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life.
Ms Skripal, who was poisoned along with her father Sergei in March, said her life had been “turned upside down” by the attempted assassination.  Ms Skripal, who was poisoned along with her ex-spy father Sergei, said her life had been “turned upside down” by the assassination attempt. 
Despite the attack being blamed on Russia, she added she hoped to return to her homeland one day. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack.
“I still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that both of us were attacked,” she told the Reuters news agency, adding that their recovery had been “slow and extremely painful.” The pair were found unconscious on a bench in the Wiltshire city on 4 March. 
She added that it was “shocking” that a nerve agent had been used in the attack.   Ms Skripal, 33, was in a coma for 20 days following the attack and has been living under police protection at a secret location since her release from hospital last month.
“I don’t want to describe the details but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing,” she said, adding that her life had “been turned upside down as I try to come to terms with the devastating changes thrust upon me both physically and emotionally.” “I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned,” she said in a written statement supplied in both English and Russian.
She said: I take one day at a time and want to help care for my dad till his full recovery. In the longer term I hope to return home to my country.” “I still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that both of us were attacked,” she added. “We are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination.
Both she and her father needed time “recover and come to terms with everything that has happened,” she said.  “Our recovery has been slow and extremely painful. I don’t want to describe the details but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing.
While she was “grateful for the offers of assistance from the Russian Embassy”, she said she did not wish to “avail myself of their services.” “I was discharged from hospital on the 9 April and continue to progress with treatment but my life has been turned upside down as I try to come to terms with the devastating changes thrust upon me both physically and emotionally.”
Both she and her father needed time “recover and come to terms with everything that has happened,” she added.
Mr Skripal, who was the most critically ill following the attack, left hospital last week for the first time since he was poisoned.
“I take one day at a time and want to help care for my dad till his full recovery,” said his daughter, who paid tribute to the “all of the wonderful, kind staff at Salisbury hospital”.
“I also think fondly of those who helped us on the street on the day of the attack,” she added.
“In the longer term I hope to return home to my country,” Ms Skripal said. “I’m grateful for the offers of assistance from the Russian Embassy but at the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services.”
She added: “No one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves.”She added: “No one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves.”
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