Putin may have ordered Salisbury attack to hide allegations against him

Vladimir Putin may have ordered the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal because the former Russian spy had secret information about the president's "criminal embezzlement", the UK government believes.

- Steven Morris

A leading intelligence official on Russia has said he took "at face value" Skripal's assertions that secrets he knew about how Putin made money led to the attack on him in Salisbury.

An inquiry into the poisonings has heard that Foreign Office experts concluded Putin personally ordered the attack as it was inconceivable that such an audacious action would have been carried out without his say-so.

A central remaining question has been why Russian agents were sent to Salisbury to kill Skripal.

In his witness statement, Skripal said when he worked for the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency, he had access to "secret information" and "was aware of allegations that Putin had been involved in illegal activity to do with the disposal of rare metals".