Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned along with her ex-spy father in Britain in March, said they are “lucky to have survived” the nerve agent attack.

In her first on-camera appearance since the assassination attempt, Skripal called her recovery “slow and painful” but said she hopes to return to her home in Russia someday.

Skripal and her 66-year-old father, Sergei, spent weeks hospitalized in critical condition after they were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury, 145 kilometers southwest of London.

Britain says the Russian state poisoned the Skripals with a Soviet-designed nerve agent dubbed Novichok that likely was smeared on the door handle of Sergei Skripal’s suburban house.

Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement and the Russian ambassador to London has repeatedly demanded access to Yulia Skripal.

The Russian embassy has also suggested she might be held in Britain against her will.

During her statement, Skripal thanked the Russian embassy for its offer of assistance, but said she and her father were “not ready to take it.”

The Skripals have been moved to a secret location and are under police guard.

Yulia Skripal said she hoped to take care of her father until he is fully recovered. He was released from the hospital earlier this month, weeks after her.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Sergei Skripal good health after his release.

“If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot,” Putin said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week. “Thank God he recovered and that he left [the hospital].”

Yulia Skripal was visiting her father when the attack took place.

Sergei Skripal moved to Britain in 2010 as part of a spy exchange after being imprisoned in Russia for selling secrets to British intelligence while he was working for the GRU, Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency.

 
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