Novichok inquiry: Russian agent's reckless act could have killed an 'uncountable number of people'
Inquiry ties Dawn Sturgess’s death to actions during Salisbury attack, which they say was authorised at the highest level, including by President Vladimir Putin
Last updated 4th Dec 2025
Russian intelligence agents have been deemed morally responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess by a public inquiry into her poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok in 2018.
44-year-old Dawn Sturgess from Amesbury, Wiltshire, died after coming into contact with Novichok, which had been discarded in a perfume bottle months earlier following an assassination attempt in Salisbury.
In the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry’s final report, published on Thursday, chairman Lord Hughes of Ombersley concluded that the attempted assassination of Mr Skripal “must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin”.
The chairman of the inquiry, which cost £8.3 million, said GRU agents Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov and Sergey Fedotov were “acting on instructions” when they carried out the attack.
Following the report’s publication, Lord Hughes said: “The conduct of Petrov and Boshirov, their GRU superiors, and those who authorised the mission up to and including, as I have found, President Putin, was astonishingly reckless.
“They, and only they, bear moral responsibility for Dawn’s death.”
How did Novichok end up in Amesbury?
Russian agents, operating under aliases Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov, and Sergey Fedotov, travelled from Moscow and placed Novichok on the handle of Skripal’s front door on 4th March 2018.
Their target, Skripal, survived the poisoning, as did his daughter Yulia and police officer Nick Bailey.
After their mission, Petrov and Boshirov 'recklessly' discarded the concealed bottle containing Novichok, which was later found by Sturgess’s boyfriend, Charlie Rowley.
Believing the bottle to contain perfume, Rowley gifted it to Sturgess, who applied the substance to her wrists on 30th June 2018 and quickly fell critically ill.
Despite expert medical treatment, Sturgess succumbed to a fatal hypoxic brain injury, dying eight days later.
Reckless act which could have killed an 'uncountable number'
The report emphasised that deploying a toxic nerve agent like Novichok in public spaces demonstrated “no regard of the potential death or serious injury of innocent people.”
The report said there is a clear link between the actions of the Russian operatives and Sturgess’s death and declared that they were morally responsible for what happened, along with those who authorised the operation.
The 174-page report read: “All those involved in the assassination attempt (not only Petrov, Boshirov and Fedotov, but also those who sent them, and anyone else giving authorisation or knowing assistance in Russia or elsewhere) were morally responsible for Dawn Sturgess’ death.
“Deploying a highly toxic nerve agent in a busy city was an astonishingly reckless act.
“The risk that others beyond the intended target, Sergei Skripal, might be killed or injured was entirely foreseeable.
“That risk was dramatically magnified by leaving in the city a bottle of the Novichok disguised as perfume.”
The chairman said there was a “clear causative link between the use and discarding of the Novichok by Petrov and Boshirov, and the death of Dawn Sturgess”.
Russia has previously denied any involvement in the attack on the Skripals.
Other findings from the report
The investigation also addressed whether Dawn Sturgess’s death could have been avoided had she received different medical treatment, concluding that her condition was unsalvageable from the moment paramedics arrived due to severe brain injury caused by her heart stopping for an extended period.
The inquiry further explored actions that may have reduced risks to public safety, including possible public health advice against picking up unidentified items in Salisbury or Amesbury after the Skripal attack, improved documentation of decisions regarding such advice, and increased first responder training on the symptoms of nerve agent poisoning. While deficiencies in these areas were acknowledged and later rectified, they were found to have had no bearing on Sturgess’s survival.