Sergei Skripal’s cousin
Viktoria Skripal said she is “scared” for Yulia and the former-spy, claimed the British authorities are untrustworthy and has doubts about their version of events, it has been reported.
Viktoria Skripal also said she doubted that Britain would give her a visa that would allow her to see her relatives as tensions continue to rise between
Russia and the West.
The accountant and mother of two said: “Wouldn’t you be scared?”
Speaking about the
UK authorities, who she claims wanted her to condemn Russia, she said: “While I don’t know the whole situation, they ask me to voice my opinion.
“If they tell me, ‘We’ll return Yulia to you if you say ‘Russia is filth,’ then I’ll stand up and say ‘Russia is filth’ and take Yulia back to that filth.”
Dr Christine Blanshard, medical director of
Salisbury District Hospital said Mr Skripal’s condition was raised to stable from critical on Friday, and he “is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly”.
Officials did not say whether or not he had regained consciousness, however.
Russian officials have accused Britain of denying them access to
Yulia Skripal.
The British Government said that the choice not to meet with Russian officials was hers.
The British Foreign Office said in a statement released Thursday: “We have conveyed to Ms Skripal the Russian Embassy’s offer of consular assistance.
“Ms Skripal is now able to choose if and when to take up this offer, but to date, she has not done so.”
Viktoria Skripal recorded a ‘brief call’ - as she described it - this week from Yulia Skripal and sent the recording over to Russian state television, who have broadcast the footage repeatedly.
The accuracy of the recording could not be confirmed, however, Ms Skripal suggested it was British officials, not Russians, who manipulated the conversation.
She said: “You heard her — the phone she’s using is temporary, and at the end, the line strangely cuts out.
“I think they’ve asked her to call me and give a specific statement.”
She added: “What’s Russia’s gain from this?
“Getting the World Cup boycotted? Earning new sanctions? And with elections two weeks away? Russia gains nothing from this politically.”
The 45-year-old Russian said she does not take Vladimir Putin’s warnings seriously that traitors should not feel safe, citing the case of Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a tycoon who fled to London in 2009.
She said: “Look, there’s Chichvarkin there with plenty of money.
“All those businessmen who have fled to France with huge sums.
“Why can’t he just kill them all and get all the money back to Russia? Why don’t they kill anyone in America?
“There’s even more of them there than in England.”