yulia skripal
© Reuters
Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former double agent Sergei, has been discharged from hospital, five weeks after being exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury.


The Russian embassy in London welcomed confirmation of Skripal's release from hospital, but appealed for "urgent proof that what is being done to her is done on her own free will."


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]."

Media reports suggest that the US is prepared to resettle the Skripals under new identities. Russia's UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, has warned that such a move points to the CIA's role in the poisoning saga and could see the Skripals disappear without providing key evidence on the case.