UK Believes Putin Personally Ordered Salisbury Poisoning

He highlighted that Alexander Litvinenko, a former officer of Russia’s FSB security service, was allegedly killed by his former organization, while Sergei Skripal, a former GRU officer, met a similar fate at the hands of his previous intelligence unit. “Perhaps there’s a notable pattern here,” he remarked.

He suggested that the GRU’s attempted assassination of Skripal was “likely” not coordinated with Russia’s other intelligence agencies or even its foreign ministry.

“There’s often rivalry and tension between various branches of Russia’s state security services—they do not cooperate effectively, if at all,” noted Allen. “The FSB and SVR, Russia’s external intelligence agency, both tend to look down on the GRU, viewing it as reckless and occasionally unprofessional.”

Countering Disinformation

Discussing Britain’s communications with Russia following the Salisbury attack, Allen revealed that Russia inundated the U.K. with an “extraordinary volume” of note verbale—official diplomatic messages—intended, at least in part, to create chaos and confusion.

He stated that Russia’s denial-driven response aimed to fuel conspiracy theories, such as claims that the poisoning was orchestrated by the U.K. itself as a distraction from Brexit or to sabotage Russia’s hosting of the World Cup.

“The Russians don’t necessarily aim for anyone to wholeheartedly believe these theories. For them, sowing doubt is the goal—if doubt exists, they see it as a victory,” Allen explained.

Allen also condemned Vladimir Putin’s remarks about the incident as “deeply offensive and callous.” Laurie Bristow, the U.K. ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020, seemed to share this sentiment. In an email presented during the inquiry, Bristow remarked, “Perhaps VVP [Putin] should have stopped talking while he was still ahead.”