Putin authorised 2018 Novichok poisoning of ex-Russian spy Skripal, UK inquiry says

Police officers stand outside the street where Dawn Sturgess lived before dying after being exposed to a Novichok nerve agent, in Salisbury, Britain, July 19, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018, in a "reckless" display of power that led to the death of an innocent woman, a UK public inquiry concluded on Thursday.

Skripal was found along with his daughter Yulia slumped unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after Novichok was applied to the front door handle of his nearby home.