Why we must never forget Vladimir Putin is a stone cold killer
Vladimir Putin found to be ‘morally responsible’ for the death of Dawn Sturgess in Wiltshire in 2018
In recent months, Vladimir Putin has been greeted warmly by Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping. However, we should never let the smiles and handshakes obscure the fact that the Russian dictator is a stone cold killer.
A public inquiry into the 2018 killing of Dawn Sturgess in Wiltshire has found Putin bore “moral responsibility” for her death, after he authorised the assassination of a Russian defector, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia. The attempt failed but Sturgess died after she was exposed to the Novichok nerve agent used by the hit squad, which they had discarded in a perfume bottle.
She is far from the only death on his conscience, if he has one. Dissidents at home and abroad have been killed, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be viewed as an act of mass murder.
So the news that the UK and Norway have signed a defence pact that will see both countries’ navies operate a combined fleet to hunt Russian submarines is a welcome sign we are increasing our security. Putin is deadly serious and so must we be.
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