Novichok survivor says latest chemical attack gives Russia 'strength to carry on and get away with it'

Novichok poisoning victim Charlie Rowley
AP

A Novichok poisoning survivor has said that the latest chemical attack has made him feel Russia could "get away with almost anything".

Charlie Rowley was exposed to the substance in the 2018 attack targeting former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Mr Rowley said he felt "devastated" the nerve agent had been used again in the alleged Novichok poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

"I felt devastated that it had happened again. I thought it was over, but it clearly isn't," he said, speaking to ITV News.

"I think it gives the Russians some strength that they can do their business and get away with it.

"It's made me feel that it could happen again any time and it's made me feel that they could get away with almost anything."

Mr Skripal and daughter Yulia were two of five people exposed to the substance in Wiltshire, both spending weeks in hospital recovering.

But Dawn Sturgess, 44, of Amesbury, Wiltshire, died in July that year after coming into contact with a perfume bottle thought to originally contain the poison, while her partner Mr Rowley spent nearly three weeks in hospital.

Wiltshire Police Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey was also exposed to the substance while responding to the attack, and almost died.

Mr Rowley said that since coming into contact with Novichok he had suffered from a range of health issues.

He added: "I suffered with memory, my eyesight was affected, and my general health, physical and mental."

Mr Rowley said he still does not feel that "justice has been served" but hopes the latest incident will lead to "some truth".

He added: "I feel justice hasn't been served and I hope this new incident will bring on more news and we will get some truth.

"I don't think I'll actually ever get over it because I don't know the outcome of what's to come to be honest.

"I'm not the same guy I used to be. It's taken a toll on me... I'd feel so much better if we could find out the truth as to who's behind it all."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in