Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
BRITISH AUTHORITIES HAVE rejected a visa application by the niece of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent along with his daughter Yulia in an English city last month.
“We have refused a visitor visa application from Viktoria Skripal on the grounds that her application did not comply with the immigration rules,” the Home Office, Britain’s interior ministry, said in a statement.
Sergei Skripal is no longer in critical condition and is “improving rapidly,” the hospital treating him.
It was the first official news on the condition of Sergei Skripal, 66, since he and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned on a bench on 4 March in Salisbury.
The affair has sparked a bitter diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow and prompted a wave of tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats between Russia and the West.
Skripal ”is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition,” said Salisbury District Hospital director Christine Blanshard.
As for his daughter, “her strength is growing daily and she can look forward to the day when she is well enough to leave the hospital”, Blanshard added.
Britain blames Russia for the poisoning of the Skripals — a charge the Kremlin furiously denies.
The first public comments by Yulia Skripal since the poisoning emerged on Thursday.
“My strength is growing daily,” she was quoted as saying in comments released by the police.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What are the brits hiding?
@Cal Mooney:
Whatever it is, our premature brown nosed boy Taoiseach will be hoping they hid it well.
@Tweed Cap: A valid point.
@Cal Mooney: 270+ upticks in less than three hours. Impressive stuff comrade Wally.
@Cal Mooney: They’re hiding the Skripals from me, you ,the gardai, the Journal.ie, and your fake National Insurance number for the dole you got them to pay in to your bank account in Saling rad over the past 20 years. You’re a poverty stricken Oligarch.
@wattsed: i am irish born and bred, unlike all the london based fake accounts on here. Everyone knows that when your arguments dont stack up, you go personal. We all see through the british fake accounts.
@Cal Mooney: You may be Irish born Wally but your comments history shows your ultimate allegiance is to whatever tinpot foreign regime opposes your domestic enemies. You will sweep all of Putin’s bigotry, corruption, human rights abuses and lack of democratic accountability under the carpet and ferociously defend him in the face of fact, logic and reason, just because you managed to delude yourself that your enemy’s enemy is your friend.
@Harry Whitehead: ok harry, 1 million dead in iraq on false british intellugence. 30 million in famine in yemen today, because the brits want to make a fast buck. Open slave markets in libya becuase britain wanted to bring democracy to that country. Every country they engahe with turns to crap. What part of this is untrue. Answer me.
@Cal Mooney: Literally all of what you just said is either grossly exaggerated or a total distortion of the facts.
@Cal Mooney: they are being 3conomical with the truth
@Cal Mooney: The only true part is the bit about Iraq, but even then you couldn’t resist twisting and inflating it to such bullshit proportions it loses any credibility. And as ever, pure whataboutery.
@ihcalaM: please explain how cal has distorted the facts because what he has said seems pretty much on the mark to me. Doesn’t seem like you have much of an argument.
@Harry Whitehead: again you offer no evidence as to how cal is wrong. Is it just your default position that everyone is full of shit but you? How about making a valid defence of your position rather than just resorting to calling everyone names. I can almost see you taking the milk money from all the other children.
@Harry Whitehead: Harry what has thumbs up got to do with this? I would imagine its because most free thinking people agree with Cal Mooney. This was obviously another massive lie from the Brits and the longer it goes on the more guilty they appear. Our govt rowed in behind them like the good sycophants they are. If you believe differently thats your opinion but don’t try and belittle others just because they have a differing view to yours. Thumbs up, lol. Is that the best deflection you can come up with?
@Ivan Connolly: Oh I see how it works. Wally makes a ridiculous claim like ‘the Brits are responsible for 30 million starving in Yemen’ but somehow the onus is on me to prove this is false, not the other way round (oddly though you don’t ask Wally to prove the Kremlin wasn’t responsible for Salisbury). I already pointed out ages ago that if you’re going to directly blame the UK for Yemen due to arms salesto the Saudis, you’d better consider Russia’s own record in arms sales to despotic regimes VERY carefully indeed.
@Frank Cauldhame: LMAO pull the other one. If most ‘free thinking’ people agree with Wally, where exactly are all the furious protests over Leo’s decision? I only mention the upticks because it’s classic bot behaviour. You find similar stunts being pulled on Trump-related articles.
Me think this story will have more twists and turns that anyone ever imagined and it’s looking less likely every day that the Russians were behind it.
@Charles Williams: dont trust Russia , previous for this sort of behaviour. One thing you can be sure of is that between the British and Russian security services we will never get the full truth.
@Gus Sheridan: __ These victims seem to be a lot healthier than previous victims of “odd poisonings”, perhaps professionals weren’t involved this time? It could be a quintuple bluff, but whatever’s going on, it’s a bleedin’ mystery.
@Charles Williams: of course Putin was behind it… ffs… the guy is a meglomaniac with setious aspirations.. this is a calculated next step move flexing Russias muscles… he wants the headlines more than Trump.
@EdmundOrlando: Boris said so so it must be true.
@Féach News: don’t mind that twit. Read between the lines man. Step back and look at Russias history recently. Who is driving all this?
@EdmundOrlando: honestly, i look at all the false flags and spurious justifications the brits gave for iraq, libya, yemen and syria. That is the reason i dont believe them on this one. In each of their false flag justifications, its the civilians who die at their hands. 1 million in iraq. Libya with open slave markets. 30 million in famine in yemen. They are evil. Not the british people, but the governments who lie to their people to justify mass killings.
@Cal Mooney: WOW, that is 4,000,000 more people than actually live in Yemen.
@Chris Neville: actally it 2.42 million more than the population i quoted. As usual, brit sympathisers undercall everything.
@Chris Neville: are you denying the UN assessment of the famine situation there or do you have a point.
@Gus Sheridan:
Can you Trust what the British will tell you?
@Ted Murray:
And you may be certain, there is a damned good Reason behind it!
@Cal Mooney: wow, but Cal, you didn’t quote population. In fact you were unspecific enough to allow someone reading to interpret it as 30 million dead as a result of famine or 30 million struggling through a famine. Who are the 2.42 million that are not in famine or dead?
@Cal Mooney: find me where the UN says that the entire population of Yemen plus 2.42 million people in Yemen and suffering a famine. Truth is you’re way off. It’s still a massive number so I have no idea why you’d lie about it
@EdmundOrlando: don’t forget to look at British history too. Russia isn’t the only state seeking to reaffirm its position in the world. Don’t forget “let’s make Britain great again”.
Intersesting video from Craig Murray – A former British Ambassador and Historian.
According to him the original soviet chem weapons facility was in Uzbekistan (then part of Soviet empire) – It was dismantled by the Americans between 1999 and 2002, Indeed he said he even attended a farewell party when they finished.
All the lab notes and equipment and stuff went with the Americans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=332&v=ZnEQxnYFLnw
@Pearse Mc Mullen: and many of the staff who were given new lives in the US.
@Pearse Mc Mullen: This was actually reported in the Irish Times by a retired journalist whose name escapes me – he was a previous Russia correspondent.
This was the day after the Salisbury incident.
Haven’t heard from since and the IT obviously made an editorial decision to go the whole hog in supporting their NATO allies.
@Pearse Mc Mullen:
Very Very interesting video clip Pearse. A whole new outlook on this puzzling Saga! Nicely spotted!
@Dessie Deratta:
Obviously everyone doing their Utmost to blame Russia, no matter What proof they may, or may Not have, and it clearly is looking as if they have Nothing whatsoever Dessie!
Wonder when it becomes obvious the brits or yanks were real perpetrators will Leo still be claiming that Ireland cannot remain neutral on chemical weapons
@Moss Cotter: exactly. FG have a lot of explaining to do.
@Moss Cotter: my money is on Ireland as the culprit. If not Ireland, it was possibly Iceland. Or it might have been another State.
It could not have been Russia because Russia is the primary defender of democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the world. Putin is a living Saint. The Pope may considering canonising Putin.
Iceland is looking a bit shifty at the moment.
As for the niece Putin wants her to go to England as a carer. That’s the kind of humanitarian thing that St Putin of Russia is noted for. Putin is even kind to Trump and has been helping the US with its democratic processes.
@Moss Cotter: dont think this is a genuine account. Fake!
@Michael Lang: What a load of rambling childish nonsense,can’t you just stop. The accusers must come up evidence, there is none, except witch trial standard accusations. Just give up.
@Michael Lang: you forgot aliens
Just wondering if this is the same niece that claimed they were on death’s door last week…
@Messer: correct, that was based on the information provided by the british foreign office to her. They are disgusting for telling her those lies.
@Cal Mooney: thanks for the clarification Cal, pretty despicable thing to do.
@Messer: were they not in a critical condition for quite a while?
@Dave O Keeffe:
Stop talking rationally – it spoils the conspiracy theories…
@Dave O Keeffe: according to the brits they were. They also claimed the cop who found them was on deaths door, but magically 7 days later he was discharged fit and well from hospital. The point being the brits are putting out big hairy lies from the start on this.
@Cal Mooney: I’d like them to explain how they confirmed it was actually a novichok so quickly. I don’t know how they could confirm the structure if they don’t already have a sample that they synthesised themselves to compare it to and then used GC-MS. I also don’t think the synthesis looks that difficult- all this stuff about “it must have been a state actor” and so on. There are plenty of drugs equally difficult to manufacture and criminals manage that just fine.
@Cal Mooney:
So what?? Where’s your evidence that nobody ever survives a nerve gas attack, even after receiving treatment??
@Walt Jabsco: It appears “the Russians did it” is increasingly looking like the Conspiracy Theory.
Time to put on your tin foil cap Walter!
@Smelly Chemist:
They didn’t. The attack was on 4th April, Novichok wasn’t mentioned until 13th April.
This is all readily verifiable despite the claims of bullshit artists like Cal that Novichok was being reported as the substance responsible within two hours of the attack.
@Walt Jabsco: What’s faster than a speeding bullet? Putinbots and Useful Idiots at rewriting what happened in the last five minutes.
@Harry Whitehead: instead of attacking the commentators directly, go on and explain the very suspicious behaviour of the brits refusing family members visas to visit.
@Walt Jabsco: April?
@F. Wood:
March – my bad…
@Cal Mooney:
Telling Lies is what Britain does best, just look at the Warmonger Blair, and his ( So Called ) Weapons of Mass Destruction, ready to be used at 15minutes notice! Look at the Thousands if innocent lives that cost in Iraq, for No apparent reason, only on an Excuse to invade another country for its Wealth, and Resources.
@Cal Mooney: if you’re not eligible for a visa you’re not eligible for a visa that’s not the governments fault
@Walt Jabsco: looks to me like you are the bullshit artist. Can’t muster a valid argument so just resort to offensive insults and misquoting people.
@Dave O Keeffe: Funny how many of the establishment can get visas for rheir slaves in britain. Just sayin.
@Ivan Connolly:
No misquote there – that’s exactly what Cal has claimed on several occasions. I called him a bullshit artist because he frequently posts bullshit claims.
Offensive? Maybe.
Apt? Definitely.
Does Blair or Bush have any idea who’s responsible considering they knew about Iraq s WMD
@Kevin Moylan:
HaHa, That is a very Valid point Kevin, you can be Certain, they do!
I note that most of the usual suspects who jump in early and gone on Russia related threads have gone AWOL!
Waiting for MI5/US embassy to send them their latest version of the “truth”?
@Dessie Deratta: No, we just have lives to get on with. It’s Friday night.
@Harry Whitehead: yet 3 hours later you are still slinging mud at people instead of explaining what your government is up to.
This will be the mother of all setbacks for anti-Russian propaganda if it turns out to be food poisoning!
But then we’ll need an explanation of how the British authorities “found” nerve gas.
Getting out the popcorn!
@Dessie Deratta: But they did not found nerve gas. They found compounds your body contain after contact with nerve gas. Those compounds are pretty much the same as you will have after food poisoning too.
Go figure.
@Pat Patovic:
Says who??
If what you say is true the OPCW will report back that they found zero evidence of nerve agents. If not will you admit you were wrong/lying?
@Walt Jabsco: if they report back saying there is no proof that the russians did it and that any number of countries or individuals carried out the attack, will you and your ilk accept you were wrong to assume the russians were the only possible players. Your givernment said that no one other than the rusdians had this poison. Were they lieing?
@Cal Mooney:
My government??
@Walt Jabsco:
If the OPCW report back with specific proof that someone with no connection to Russia did it I will indeed admit I was wrong.
If they don’t will you admit you were wrong?
@Cal Mooney:
You’re changing your narrative on this as frequently as the Kremlin. Earlier it was ‘food poisoning or Weils disease’, now is back to being ‘an attack’ again.
You’d want to make your mind up.
@Dessie Deratta: how would that account for the policeman also falling ill after contact with them???
This is all very suspicious.
Can’t be the Russians, they don’t miss
@New Day Rising:
They did with Yushchenko.
Where is Mick Jordan now?
@F. Wood: Right here. Believe it or not I do have other things to do.
@Mick Jordan: Based on your record here I simply don’t believe it!
@Dessie Deratta: You must have nothing else to do then either.
@Mick Jordan: I’m extremely busy but have mastered the art of walking while chewing gum.
You obviously haven’t.
@Dessie Deratta: Don’t chew gum. Disgusting habit.
The intrigue continues. Can’t wait to see the movie they make of this whole debacle. Robert de Niro to play Sergei Skripal.
@O Swetenham: Idris Elba , get with the program .
It would seem the british have been caught with their willy in one hand and a finger up their bum,very interesting times ahead,i wonder how our wonderful leader is feeling ???
On Sky news they are reporting that the niece said they got I’ll from food poisoning.
I found it funny when I opened the story here and in the middle there was an ad for Burger King
@Míleata Watch Co: I don’t know what Sky News you are watching but I have seen no such story today or yesterday. So let’s see the link to the Sky News story you are referring to.
@Mick Jordan: sorry it said cousin not niece
https://news.sky.com/story/salisbury-attack-yulia-and-sergei-skripals-relative-refused-entry-to-britain-11319366
Not been a good few weeks for Theresa May. Repeated attempts at discrediting Corbyn ending in dismal failure and now this web of lies is starting to unravel.
Now they give the Russians more ammo.
@Mick12: it’s just a hunch but I don’t think that Russia needs more ammunition. It has plenty of other weaponry.
If you listen to the Phone Call yesterday you will hear Victoria Skripal telling Julia that if she gets a visa to tell the British to let her visit the hospital. Julia can can be heard saying “No”. Julia has so far, refused to speak to anyone from the Russian Embassy, and she would know that her Cousin would be accompanied by minders from the Embassy. She even told her Cousin the British will not give you a visa. How would she know that unless she herself asked them not to.
One only had to look at the reaction from where she works when the story first broke. Over 100 over her work colleagues were asked for a comment and most denied even knowing her. And those that did acknowledge her refused to make any comment other than they knew her. People were afraid to say anything.
@Mick Jordan: Not THAT deserves a Tin Foil Hat!
@Dessie Deratta: Now….
@Dessie Deratta: What, stuff that can be verified from a recording? Yeah, much less credible than an online diagnosis of food poisoning/Weil’s Disease.
@Harry Whitehead: Could you repeat that, preferably in joined-up English?
Then if it’s worthwhile I’ll reply to it….
@Dessie Deratta: Nothing wrong with my English, comrade. It’s your supervisors’ fault for not ensuring their bots’ skills are up to standard.
@Harry Whitehead: harry, you are reporting from the nest in london. The rest of us are irish living in Ireland not buying the crap you and your government are trying to sell us.
@Mick Jordan: yesterday you said you doubted the authenticity of the recirding because it seemed fake. Today, you claim its gospel. Do you have these epitomes very often?
@Cal Mooney: Speak for yourself. I’m Irish, living in Ireland, and I’m not buying what Russia are selling, with their hilariously all-over-the-place statements on this in the past few weeks (if you thought the Brits were bad, have a look back at some of the rubbish spouted by the Russian ministry of Defence).
If you’re going to criticise the Brits, fire ahead (preferably with a bit more coherence), but it’s very telling that you haven’t once admitted that the famously honest Russian regime may be telling big fat ones in an effort to cover up what would be the latest in a long line of murderous adventures.
@Cal Mooney: Again Wally, there goes this bizarre fixation of yours with my city. Try and come up with a more original line of attack. Your own nationality certain hasn’t precluded you from denying, deflecting or in a few cases even telling complete porkies – any luck yet in finding that quote where I allegedly called Yulia Skripal’s cousin a ‘liar’?
To get an indication of what intelligence agencies are capable of doing read Richard Cottrell book called Gladio
@Moss Cotter: Read it.
A MUST for the drones who fall for Western Deep State propaganda hook, line and sinker.
But that assumes the drones are not already committed members/supporters of the Deep State…which I suspect many of the Britbots and Pentagon groupies here are…not naming anyone in particular.
Was down in tesco earlier to get some stuff for the weekend and guess what no tin foil left.
@Justin McNulty: I heard there was a run on it by the brit war loving brigade.
@Cal Mooney: Yeah Cal…looks like us bots have suddenly got the field all to ourselves!
@Justin McNulty: They hid it on you, they were getting worried about you.
@Cal Mooney: ‘Food poisoning’. I’ll leave it at that, Wally. *stifled laughter*
@Harry Whitehead: you claimed during the first week that only the russians had a poison like this. Lets see what the opcw say. Is that fair? If they say that only the russians could have carried out thus attack i will eat my words on here. If they dont, i will ask you very politely to take back all the false claims you made.
@Harry Whitehead: @Harry Whitehead: What’s this? A smug, patronising ill-informed Englishman? Ignorant of his country’s reprehensible colonial past, continued racism and his government’s long record of deception and war crimes? No, never seen that before! So uppity us Irish eh? Sure, we should just believe everything they say. They’ve never led us astray!
@Cal Mooney: I highly doubt the OPCW have a mandate to assign blame. They didn’t do it in Syria, and relied on a UN joint mechanism to do so.
So your premise is unreasonable. The OPCW are likely unable to say who is behind the attack (conclusively) even if the evidence is overwhelming as it is beyond their remit. They can, however, point us in the right direction (state vs. non-state actors, Novichok or not, for example). We’ll see.
@ihcalaM: the opcw can say who created the agent. If they are unanle to point the finger at russia, the brits are shown up for the habitual liars they are.
And what happened the Skirpal’s pets?
“the poor things were killed by thirst, having been sealed inside the Skripals’ house by investigators. The cat was in such a distressed state when a vet eventually gained entry that it was euthanised, reportedly at Porton Down.”
And this is from a sneering piece in the Guardian, not RT or Sputnik.
@Dessie Deratta:
What’s your point, or are you suggesting it’s all part of the conspiracy to kill the guinea pigs so they can’t tell the media what really happened?
@Walt Jabsco: i am pretty sure he is saying the brits have lied from start to finish on this one. There must be a lot of sweaty bums in the conservative party right now trying to justify refusing a visa to a family member of the victims. The brits have been caught lieing once again. They no longer have any credibility.
She is not Bringing Millions.
Would suggest chem agent on door handle must of been liquid, but can’t imagine anyone walking away from that even the comparable healthy mustard gas destroyed lungs serious health issues, this would be far more potent, but not a bad kebab story either.
Russia keen to put Britain down, walked them into Brexit and away from EU , now looks like about to discredit them internationally, Trumps US happy to walk away from Nato given the right opening. Truly if Putin walked into Poland , Estonia, without a US backed response what response is there. Can’t imagine their would there be gun fire just the use of the word unacceptable alot and talk of sanctions.
Further proof,,,, cats can’t use door handle (insert smiley face here) .
‘in solidarity with Britain’. Jaysus. Who would’ve thought expelling a Russian diplomat before we had any clue what happened would’ve made us look like idiots!? Oh ya – most of the country! Varadkar doing his best impersonation of Dotard Trump.
Will Trump allow her visit them CIA #Langley
So they refuse her entry but they allow ISIS terrorists back into the country. How is that?
have your say