The conclusion about the involvement of Russia in the poisoning of the former GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was made on the basis of information that Moscow allegedly considers former intelligence officers potential targets and develops methods for using poisonous substances for homicides. This is stated in the statement of the British Foreign Office available to RIA Novosti. At the same time on April 3, the head of the secret laboratory of the Ministry of Defense of Britain told Sky News that the experts could not prove that the substance that was poisoned by the Violins was of Russian origin. Commenting on this news at a press conference with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, President Vladimir Putin said: "It is surprising that the speed with which the anti-Russian campaign was promoted. Tomorrow we call a session of the executive committee of the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in order to analyze this situation in the most detailed manner. I hope that during this discussion the final point will be put in what happened. We are interested in a full investigation, we want to be allowed to this investigation, since we are talking about citizens of the Russian Federation ".

President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, answering journalists' questions, stressed that both British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Theresa May should apologize to Russia. In the English city of Salisbury, on March 4, ex-colonel GRU Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia were poisoned. London immediately stated that Moscow was involved in the poisoning of Fiddles with substance A234, without providing any evidence of this. The case of the Violins was the occasion for a grand international scandal: more than 20 countries sent more than 100 Russian diplomats.