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Today marks four years since Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury. The former Russian spy, 70, and his daughter, 38, had been poisoned with the
novichok nerve agent. The pair had spent the day catching up at a pub and enjoying a meal at a Zizzi restaurant after Yulia had arrived in the UK from Russia to visit her father. However,
they were rushed to hospital after becoming ill from the military-grade nerve agent, which had been smeared on the door of Mr Skripal’s former home. Dawn Sturgess and her partner Charlie
Rowley also fell ill from novichok in the nearby town of Amesbury. Dawn died on July 8, 2018 after the couple had touched a contaminated perfume dispenser. Then-Prime Minister Theresa May
blamed Russia for the attacks, saying at the time it was “highly likely” Moscow was behind the poisonings. A raft of expulsions of Russian diplomats and international sanctions from western
countries followed. Four years after the poisonings, which sparked international outcry, the Skripals are reported to have moved away from the UK. JUST IN: PUTIN NUCLEAR WARNING AS UNHINGED
RUSSIAN LEADER TIPPED TO DROP BOMB NEAR BRITAIN Sergei and Yulia started a new life in New Zealand, The Sunday Times Magazine reported in 2020, citing senior Government sources. The pair
apparently spent more than a year in an MI6 safe house before beginning their new life abroad. The father and daughter were given new identities, according to the source, who the Times said
had knowledge of a risk assessment carried out on the pair. The paper spoke to Ross Cassidy and his wife Mo, Mr Skripal’s former neighbours, who at the time were still in touch with him. The
couple received a Christmas card from the former Russian spy. After the poisonings, Yulia was in hospital for a month and her father for two months, before they were taken to an unknown
location for their safety. Two years ago, the nerve agent attacks were captured in a BBC drama, ‘The Salisbury Poisonings’. Mark Urban, a BBC journalist who interviewed Mr Skripal before the
poisonings claimed in 2019 he may want to stay in the UK. Mr Urban spoke to The Daily Telegraph, which reported that the former spy and his daughter could be given work in British
intelligence. He said: “There are lots of reasons why they would stay in Britain. “It is notable that in his recent Panorama interview, Sir John Sawers, the former chief of the Secret
Intelligence Service, when asked whether they were still in this country, said the UK authorities would continue to look after people in such a position.”