Former Russian intelligence colonel poisoned with flowers at wife's grave?

A bouquet of fresh flowers that former Russian spy Sergei Skripal placed at his wife's grave is becoming an important piece of evidence in the investigation, a source close to British police said today.Sun.

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, visited the grave of his wife Liudmila at a cemetery on March 4 a few hours before being found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury.

Investigators believe the flowers were contaminated with a rare nerve agent of unknown origin. It is likely that the perpetrator sent the flowers to Mr Skripal’s home, along with a note saying they were from his late wife’s friend, asking him to take them to the cemetery.

"All lines of inquiry are now focused on the flowers on the grave. It appears he visited the grave just before going to the shopping centre car park," the source said. The bouquet has been collected by the British Army's chemical warfare unit for analysis.

The former colonel's practice of placing fresh flowers at his wife's grave was also considered unusual. He often bought artificial flowers every few weeks from the same market shop to visit the cemetery.

The connection between the bouquet and the furniture in his home also explains how the toxin is absorbed through the skin when someone touches it. A police sergeant also showed signs of poisoning after visiting Mr Skripal’s home or after arriving to find them unconscious.

Baily remains in a “serious but stable” condition, while Mr Skripal and his daughter are in a critical condition. They may have been poisoned at home, with a slow-acting substance.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on March 10 that more than 200 witnesses and 240 pieces of evidence had been verified. One witness saw a suspicious "masked man" appearing near the scene. Hundreds of counter-terrorism police were involved. Forces are conducting a decontamination operation around Liudmila's grave.

Mr. Skripal, who served in the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU), was arrested in 2004 and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 for spying for the UK. According to Russian media, Skripal received $100,000 from British intelligence to provide the UK with information about GRU agents operating in European countries at that time.

In 2010, Skripal was brought to the UK in a spy swap between the US and Russia. He was granted asylum and has lived quietly in the UK for the past seven years.