In Britain, Sturges was recognized as an accidental victim of the assassination attempt on the Skripals.

British woman Dawn Sturgess of Amesbury, who died in 2018 after coming into contact with a toxic substance, was an accidental victim of the assassination attempt in Salisbury on former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, according to the head of the investigation into the cause of her death, former UK Supreme Court judge Lord Anthony Hughes, The Telegraph reports.

According to the report presented by Hughes, Sturges died after coming into contact with Novichok-laced liquid from a bottle of Nina Ricci perfume. The discarded bottle had been given to her by her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley. He was also injured but survived. The Amesbury incident occurred several months after the Salisbury incident; the two cities are located near each other.

Hughes reiterated Britain's previous accusations that Moscow was involved in the poisoning. Simultaneously with the release of the report, the UK Foreign Office announced sanctions against the GRU and 11 individuals "behind Russian state-sponsored malign activity, including those who worked for the GRU." The UK Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin.

Military intelligence operated under the name GRU until 2010, when it was renamed the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (GU Genshtaba).

Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in the Skripal assassination attempt. In 2023, the Russian Embassy accused London of "fabricating" the events in Salisbury in preparation for a confrontation with Moscow, "which has now escalated to a military-political level in Ukraine ." Commenting on the findings of the new investigation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared them "tasteless tales from the English crypt."

British authorities claim that Russian agents Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov carried out the Skripal assassination attempt. In an interview with RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, they stated that they were visiting Salisbury as tourists to see the cathedral.

Former GRU officer Sergei Skripal was convicted in Russia in 2006 of treason for spying for the United Kingdom. In the summer of 2010, four Russians, including Skripal, were exchanged for ten individuals accused by Washington of illegal intelligence activities for Russia. Among those exchanged were Anna Chapman, Juan Lazaro, and Mikhail Semenko.