YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former double agent Sergei Skripal, has been discharged from hospital, five weeks after being exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury, RT reports.

Skripal and her father were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury on March 4, after they were attacked with an A-234 nerve agent, similar to Novichok. The director of Salisbury District Hospital said Tuesday that Yulia has been discharged and her father’s health is improving.

Since the attack on the ex-Russian double agent and his daughter, the British government has placed the blame at Russia’s feet; a claim which Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Last week, Yulia, 33, spoke to her Moscow-based cousin Viktoria, who recorded the phone conversation and shared it with Russian state media. In the recording, Yulia told her cousin that she was “being discharged soon.” She also said that her father Sergei, 66, was “resting now, he’s sleeping.” She added: “Everyone’s health is OK. No one has had any irreversible [harm].”

On Wednesday, Porton Down Chief Executive Gary Aitkenhead revealed that the laboratory was unable to confirm the origin of the chemical agent used in the attack. Aitkenhead’s comments came after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a German TV interview that Porton Down had said the substance used to poison the Skripals was unequivocally Russian.

On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, and his daughter Yulia, visiting him from Moscow, were poisoned with an alleged Russia-made nerve agent in Salisbury, England. As of 13 March 2018, they remain critically ill at Salisbury District Hospital. The poisoning is being investigated by British authorities as attempted murder.

The United Kingdom believes it is "highly likely" that the Russian government was behind the attack. Russia denies any involvement.

The incident sparked an international diplomatic crisis when many Western countries began expelling Russian diplomats from their countries. Most recently, Russia responded by expelling 60 US diplomats.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan