U.K. Accuses Putin Over Poison Attack as Police Launch Probe into Exile’s Death

A top Russian diplomat says Moscow prepared to escalate standoff with the West

Britain’s top diplomat on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering a nerve-agent attack that left an ex-double agent fighting for his life, as police launched a murder investigation into the death of another Russian exile in the U.K.

Police said an autopsy showed businessman Nikolai Glushkov, a 68-year-old former top executive of Russian state airline Aeroflot and Kremlin critic, was found dead from “compression to the neck” at his home March 12, about a week after the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter...