YULIA Skripal, the daughter of the ex-Russian spy who was poisoned in Salisbury, has broken her silence and said she is "lucky to be alive" after the attempt to kill her and her father, Sergei.
In a statement to camera, the 33-year-old, who was discharged from hospital earlier this month and still bears the scar on her neck from a tracheotomy, said her “life has been turned upside down" and that she was taking "one day at a time". She explained how she now wanted to take care of her father until he was fully recovered.
With the Russian authorities having suggested she was being kept against her will, Ms Skripal declared: “I want to reiterate what I said in my earlier statement, that no one speaks for me or for my father but ourselves.”
She remains under police protection and was speaking from a secret location in London.
Despite the attempt on her life by means of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok smeared on the front door handle of her father’s home, Ms Skripal insisted she hoped once day to return to Russia.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Ms Skripal said: “I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned. The fact that a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking.”
She thanked the Russian embassy for its offer of assistance but made clear she and her father were "not ready to take it".
Ms Skripal also paid tribute to the hospital staff who had treated her since the attack.
“I am grateful to all of the wonderful, kind staff at Salisbury hospital, a place I have become all too familiar with. I also think fondly of those who helped us on the street on the day of the attack.
"We are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination,” she declared. “Our recovery has been slow and extremely painful."
After the attack on March 4, Ms Skripal spent 20 days in a coma and was released five weeks after treatment. Her father, a former spy, was discharged last week.
Ms Skripal spoke in Russian and gave a statement she said she had written herself in Russian and English. She signed both documents after making her statement but declined to answer questions after speaking to camera.
Her remarks made no reference to who might have been behind the attempted assassination.
Theresa May has said it is “highly likely” the Russian state carried out the attack, arguing only the Kremlin had the means and the motive to attack Mr Skripal, who served a prison sentence in Russia after he was caught spying for MI6.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the attack and has even suggested the British security services were behind it.
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