UK requests Russian explanation for new nerve agent poisoning

British Interior Minister asked Thursday that Russia explain how two people were inadvertently poisoned with the same military nerve agent used against a former Russian spy and his daughter, insisting that it was unacceptable for English cities to become "poison dumps".

A man and a woman in their 40s were in critical condition in a hospital in southwestern England after they got sick on Saturday near Salisbury, a city not far from iconic stonehenge monument in Britain

. Novichok type of neurotoxic agent that was used to attack the ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, on March 4 in Salisbury.

Britain has accused Russia of being behind the Skripal attack but the Kremlin denies any involvement. British Interior Minister Sajid Javid told Parliament Thursday that it was time for Russia to explain "exactly what happened".

"It is totally unacceptable that our populations are deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, the unexplained poisoning of two British citizens with no apparent connection to Russia has raised health problems in Salisbury, where a big decontamination effort occurred after the case of the Skripal poisoning.

There was no panic because the police cords took over and the police stood guard near potential contamination sites on Thursday, yet residents could not contain their discomfort with a second contact with Novichok, even though public health officials said the risk of contamination was very low.

Keith Burton, 56 years, was among those concerned

. I hoped that everything was over, "he said." Maybe they forgot something? Maybe it was something fallen somewhere? We simply do not know. "

Experts say a few milligrams of odorless liquid – the weight of a snowflake – is enough to kill a person in minutes.British officials say that they believe that the nerve agent was coated at the Skripal gate, but they did not explain how that was done. They had a chronology of Skripal movements in Salisbury when they got sick and spent millions of pounds to clean these known sites, but they have not explained how they can, or can not, follow the nerve agent through an area.

The weapons expert Bretton-Gordon's Hamish Chemicals said the latest casualties are likely collateral damage from the Skripal attack.The gel that was smeared on the handle of the Skripal house was probably carried in a device or syringe. " , he said t. "I think the current working hypothesis is that this device or this syringe is what appeared and the residue made that these two people got sick."

The new case appeared a few days before a NATO summit. between Russia and the West. The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia was concerned about this case, but that it had nothing to do with poisoning. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia categorically denied and continued to categorically deny any possibility of participation in what was happening there. a joint investigation into the Skripal case, adding that the UK "has not submitted any evidence of Russia's involvement in this case, besides unfounded accusations."

Britain has stated that the type of nerve agent Union and could only have been produced by a state agency. British Prime Minister Theresa May gave Russia a deadline to explain how Novichok could have been used in Britain, and when the Kremlin did not respond, the government declared that it was not necessary There was no choice but to believe that the Russian state was involved in the attack. said Thursday the nerve agent involved in the current case was the same variety as that used against Skripal and his daughter, but it is not known whether the two samples came from the same batch.

"What we are clear about … is that it's exactly the same nervous agent of the Novichok family," he said. "We can not attribute that to the same series at this point, scientists will look at this, I'm told it's not even possible."

Local police said the recent poisoning was a "major incident". after the couple – identified by friends like Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charlie Rowley, 45 – was found in a residential building in Amesbury, eight miles (13 km) from Salisbury.

Police closed a house in Amesbury, which was thought to be Rowley's, and other places visited, including a church, pharmacy and park in Salisbury, near Where the Skripals Were

Skripal Disease first confounded the doctors after they were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March. The Porton Down scientists concluded that they had been poisoned with Novichok

Andrea Sella, professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, said that Novichok's neurotoxic agents "are designed to be pretty persistent. break down quickly.

"This means that if a container or surface was contaminated with this material, it would remain a danger for a long time, and it will be essential to trace the couple's movements to identify where they might have been in contact with the material. source, "he said," while the general public runs a very low risk of this material, until the source "

Ben Wallace, the British Minister of Security, has stated that the Russians should come forward and tell the British authorities what they know about poisoning Novichok

.I await the call of the Russian state, "he said "The offer is there.It is they who could fill all the clues to ensure the safety of the people."

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Kirka and Lawless brought from London Matt Dunham to Amesbury and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed