YULIA Skripal has said her strength is "growing daily" after the nerve agent attack which left her and her father fighting for their lives in hospital intensive care.

The 33-year-old’s first public comments since the March 4 attack in Salisbury were released shortly after Russian television reported that she had contacted her cousin Viktoria in Moscow to say she and her father Sergei, 66, were recovering and that she would soon be discharged from hospital.

Russia has appealed for the UK to issue visas for relatives to visit the Skripals in hospital in Wiltshire, where they are being treated for exposure to the nerve agent Novichok.

Moscow has called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council tonight to discuss the incident with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denouncing UK suggestions of Russian involvement as “fairy tales” and saying London had "legitimate questions" to answer about what had happened.

However, Ben Wallace, the Security Minister insisted it was "beyond reasonable doubt" that Russia was to blame for the attack.

In her statement, released by Scotland Yard, Ms Skripal said: “I woke up over a week ago now and am glad to say my strength is growing daily. I am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that I have received."

She thanked healthcare workers at Salisbury District Hospital as well as "the people of Salisbury that came to my aid when my father and I were incapacitated".

Ms Skripal added: "I am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating and I hope that you'll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence."

Earlier, Russian media reported that she had told her cousin that her father was "alright", adding: "Everyone is recovering, everyone survived...No irreparable harm was done. That's all, I will soon be discharged from the hospital."

At a press conference in London, Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador, said Yulia's sister had been waiting for two days for a visa to come to Britain to visit her in hospital.

"We believe this is a humanitarian case and we could expect that the visa would be issued as fast as possible. Everything is in the hands of the British Government."

Mr Yakovenko again denied his country had produced Novichok and hit out at Boris Johnson's claim that Russia had maintained a stockpile of the nerve agent "likely for assassination".

He insisted this was "untrue,” “not supported by any evidence,” and “unacceptable".

The ambassador claimed there were "a lot of suspicion about Britain" in relation to a string of deaths of Russian citizens over the past decade.

Earlier, as Mr Lavrov denounced UK “fairy tales” over Salisbury, his deputy Sergei Ryabkov said there was "no trust in Great Britain, it is impossible to trust London" after its continuous "misconduct" and unacceptable rhetoric against Russia.

At Westminster, Labour accused Mr Wallace of "playing party politics" after he made reference to a "circle" of trust, apparently implying that Jeremy Corbyn could leak intelligence.

Noting how the Labour leader had seen more intelligence "than the average backbench MP" because he had received a Privy Council briefing on the matter, the minister added: "The circle of who gets to see very sensitive information is very small because if you leak it or it gets out, people's lives are put at risk."

Labour HQ hit out at Mr Wallace’s words, saying: "This is completely irresponsible and another attempt by the Tories to deflect criticism from Boris Johnson's blatant attempt to mislead the public.

"The Foreign Secretary has still failed to account for himself and still has serious questions to answer. Ben Wallace should be acting in the national interest, not playing party politics with the country's security," a spokesman added.

Meanwhile, the SNP's Stewart McDonald hit out at Mr Johnson, claiming on BBC Radio 5 Live that he had a "slippery loose tongued approach" to diplomacy and should face "some kind of sanction, if not be sacked" over his remarks on the Salisbury attack.

The MP for Glasgow South said: “Going too far seems to be the hallmark of how this Foreign Secretary carries out his duties. He's in one of the most sensitive top jobs in government and acts as the UK's top diplomat and having a slippery tongue, as he too often has, is a qualification that really he could do without.”

He said the things Mr Johnson had done in the past deserved his resignation. “Having this kind of slippery loose-tongued approach to what is the most serious of incidents and attack on UK soil, it's just not on. It wouldn't be accepted in any other department of government, so he has to face some form of consequence for it.”

Mr McDonald, who is his party’s defence spokesman, added: “This is the wrong man in the wrong job. He surely, surely has to face some kind of sanction, if not be sacked.”