Reuters
LONDON — A man and a woman who have been admitted to a hospital in western England were exposed to the same nerve agent that was behind the poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter four months ago, counterterrorism police said Wednesday.
Britain blamed Russia for the earlier poisoning using Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union. Moscow denied any responsibility for that attack.
The man and woman, both British nationals, collapsed at home over the weekend in Amesbury, 7 miles from Salisbury where spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in March. They are in critical condition at the same Salisbury hospital that treated the Skripals.
The incident is likely to reignite the controversy over allegations that Russia had a role in the poisoning of the Skripals. It comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and during the World Cup in Russia where the England’s soccer team is competing. Moscow is likely to claim that the second incident reinforces its assertion that it wasn’t to blame for the attack on the Skripals.