'Putin is RESPONSIBLE!' Security minister blames Russian President for Novichok attack
SECURITY Minister Ben Wallace claimed Vladimir Putin is "ultimately responsible" for the deadly Novichok attack in Salisbury earlier this year as he linked the two Russian suspects to senior members of the Russian President's team.
The Security Minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Vladimir Putin has ultimate responsibility for the actions of his spies in carrying out the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
He said: "Ultimately he does, insofar as he is president of the Russian Federation and it is his government that controls, funds and directs the military intelligence - that's the GRU - via his minister of defence."
Mr Wallace added: "I don't think that anyone can ever say that Mr Putin isn't in control of his state.
"The GRU is, without doubt, not rogue.
“It is led, linked to both the senior members of the Russian general staff and the defence minister and, through that, into the Kremlin and the President's office.”
The Tory Minister told BBC's Martha Kearney the UK would "use whatever means we have within the law and our capabilities" to "push back the Russian malign activity".
Asked whether there would be retaliation for Russia's activities, particularly in cyberspace, Mr Wallace replied: "We do all the time, but we retaliate in our way.
"We are not the Russians, we don't adopt the sort of thuggish, destructive and aggressive behaviour that we have seen.
"We choose to challenge the Russians in both the overt and the covert space, within the rule of law and in a sophisticated way."
I don't think that anyone can ever say that Mr Putin isn't in control of his state
Mr Wallace's comments come as Prime Minister Theresa May revealed on Wednesday that investigators had concluded that the two prime suspects in the Novichok case were members of the Kremlin’s GRU military intelligence service.
She insisted evidence pointed towards a plot sanctioned by senior figures in the Russian state.
And as she promised to get co-ordinated international action to root out the GRU from infiltrating Western nations, a senior Tory warned that Mr Putin’s regime was now being run as a “gangster operation” sending “hoods and murderers to kill our citizens”.
British diplomats will raise the issue at the UN Security Council today as part of a renewed campaign to isolate Russia for the outrage.
She told the Commons: "I can tell the House that, based on a body of intelligence, the Government has concluded the two individuals named by the police and Crown Prosecution Service are officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU.
Theresa May: There IS evidence to charge Russian suspects
“The GRU is a highly disciplined organisation with a well-established chain of command.
“So this was not a rogue operation. It was almost certainly also approved outside the GRU at a senior level of the Russian state.”
Mrs May accused Mr Putin’s regime of obstructing the investigation of the attack last March, pointing out that Russian sources had even attempted to blame her for the poisoning.
She said: “We repeatedly asked Russia to account for what happened in Salisbury in March, and they have replied with obfuscation and lies.
“This has included trying to pass the blame for this attack on to terrorists, on to our international partners, and even on to the future mother-in-law of Yulia Skripal.
“They even claimed that I, myself, invented Novichok. Their attempts to hide the truth by pushing out a deluge of disinformation simply reinforces their culpability.”