Vladimir Putin 'Morally Responsible' for Salisbury Nerve Agent Death: UK Public Inquiry
A scathing public inquiry has found Russia's President Vladimir Putin morally responsible for the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England that killed British woman Dawn Sturgess. The attack was a twisted and cruel attempt to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who survived but was left severely ill.
The probe, led by Judge Anthony Hughes, concluded that Putin had authorized the mission to kill Skripal, calling it "astonishingly reckless." The inquiry's findings were published on Thursday, sparking outrage from the UK government, which has imposed severe sanctions on Russia's intelligence agency, GRU.
Sturgess, 44, was an innocent bystander who unwittingly sprayed herself with a bottle of perfume that contained the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Her death was ruled as "direct result" of Putin's actions, which were deemed to be a cruel and cynical attempt to target Skripal.
The inquiry's report highlighted several failures by British authorities, including inadequate risk assessment and lack of protective measures for high-profile targets like Skripal. The government has been criticized for not taking adequate precautions, putting the public at risk and ultimately leading to Sturgess' death.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the findings as "a grave reminder" of Putin's disregard for innocent lives. In response, the UK has imposed sanctions on GRU in its entirety and summoned the Russian ambassador to answer for Moscow's ongoing campaign of hostile activity.
The investigation is not the first to implicate Putin in a spy killing. A separate inquiry concluded in 2016 that he "probably approved" the 2006 killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned with radioactive polonium in London.
A scathing public inquiry has found Russia's President Vladimir Putin morally responsible for the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England that killed British woman Dawn Sturgess. The attack was a twisted and cruel attempt to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who survived but was left severely ill.
The probe, led by Judge Anthony Hughes, concluded that Putin had authorized the mission to kill Skripal, calling it "astonishingly reckless." The inquiry's findings were published on Thursday, sparking outrage from the UK government, which has imposed severe sanctions on Russia's intelligence agency, GRU.
Sturgess, 44, was an innocent bystander who unwittingly sprayed herself with a bottle of perfume that contained the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Her death was ruled as "direct result" of Putin's actions, which were deemed to be a cruel and cynical attempt to target Skripal.
The inquiry's report highlighted several failures by British authorities, including inadequate risk assessment and lack of protective measures for high-profile targets like Skripal. The government has been criticized for not taking adequate precautions, putting the public at risk and ultimately leading to Sturgess' death.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the findings as "a grave reminder" of Putin's disregard for innocent lives. In response, the UK has imposed sanctions on GRU in its entirety and summoned the Russian ambassador to answer for Moscow's ongoing campaign of hostile activity.
The investigation is not the first to implicate Putin in a spy killing. A separate inquiry concluded in 2016 that he "probably approved" the 2006 killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned with radioactive polonium in London.
so what's the takeaway from this public inquiry? it seems pretty clear that Putin is guilty as charged, but what's the point of having a public inquiry if we already know it's going to conclude like this? 
anyway, I'm glad they're holding Russia accountable for Sturgess' death - it's just not right that an innocent person got caught in the crossfire. 
and yeah, the fact that they're imposing sanctions is a good start, but we need to see more concrete action from our government if we want to take Putin seriously 
like what even is Putin's deal? causing so much harm and pain to innocent people just for some twisted game of espionage... and the fact that Dawn Sturgess was just a regular person who got dragged into this nightmare is just devastating 
. it's crazy that he can be held morally responsible for her death, but what about all the other people affected by his actions? it's like he doesn't even care about human lives anymore 
I mean, what's new? Another Western country trying to pin everything on Russia and Putin. It's like they're not even trying to investigate their own government's involvement. I bet if they dug deeper, they'd find out it was some British spook who decided to play a twisted game of cat and mouse with Skripal. 
But no, instead they just want to blame the Russian bear for everything. And now they're imposing sanctions like it's going to magically fix everything? Please, it's just more noise from the same old politicians who can't even be trusted to tell the truth about their own actions. 
Putin's been found morally responsible for this nerve agent attack and yet we're still not getting any real answers or concrete actions from the UK government. It's all just a big show, if you ask me. They're imposing sanctions and condemning Russia, but where's the actual evidence? Are they going to take it up with Putin himself like he's some kind of schoolboy who can be scolded and bullied into behaving? 
can't believe this guy's got blood on his hands literally! Putin's responsible for Dawn Sturgess' tragic death 
. 2006 Litvinenko case was suspicious too btw, hope that gets more attention soon 
what's next? Is he gonna try to cover this up like he always does with those fancy PR moves 
? Anyway, UK sanctions are a good start but I think it's time for the world to take Putin down a peg 
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. Morally responsible for some poor soul getting poisoned by a perfume bottle? Like, what's next? Claiming responsibility for the entirety of Russia's questionable 2000s actions 
it's just crazy how these kinds of attacks happen. The UK has been pretty vocal about condemning Russia's actions, and it's time they took some serious action 
. Maybe Putin's actually a good guy who just got caught up in some bad circumstances? 
, but it's not enough, right? 
. Meanwhile, Putin's approval ratings are still a whopping 68%, but this scandal might just change that... we'll see how it plays out 
Putin's got a bad rep, and this new report just solidified it 
Novichok, the ultimate relationship killer 
Guess you shouldn't trust Russians with your sprays 
AND PAY FOR THE DEATHS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE LIKE DAWN STURGESSES 
. It's not like they're gonna get away with this one, mark my words 
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. I guess the investigation did reveal some pretty serious failures by British authorities, but come on, Russia knew what they were doing with Novichok 
. But still, I wish it didn't have to come to this 
Sturgess didn't even do anything wrong and look what happened to her. the fact that they had to impose sanctions on Russia is a small step i guess, but it's better than nothing 
and now he's being held accountable by the UK. Good on 'em for finally getting some justice for Dawn Sturgess 
. It's not going to be easy, but someone's gotta do it 
. And as for Putin? Well, I think we all know he's got a lot of explaining to do 
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. I mean, sure, it's convenient to blame him for this whole mess, but can't we take a closer look at how British authorities handled things? Like, why didn't they take better precautions to protect Skripal and Sturgess in the first place?