UK’s May: ‘Highly likely’ Russian behind poisoning of ex-spy

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May says her government has concluded it is “highly likely” Russia is responsible for the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter.

May tells British lawmakers on Monday that Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were exposed to a nerve agent known as Novichok (Novice), a weapon developed in the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War

May says the attack in a city in England fits a pattern of Russian aggression and that Russia’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to explain what happened.

She says: “We will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil.”

Skripal and his daughter remain in critical condition more than a week after they were found unconscious in Salisbury on March 4.

— AP