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Yulia Skripal has been discharged from hospital after being poisoned with nerve agent

She collapsed alongside her father, ex-spy Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury on March 4.

  • The daughter of ex-spy Sergei Skripal is out of hospital.
  • Yulia Skripal and her father collapsed in Salisbury after being poisoned by Novichok nerve agent.
  • Salisbury District Hospital said this "is not the end of her treatment, but marks a significant milestone."
  • Sergei was no longer in critical condition as of last Friday and doctors hope to discharge him at some point as well.
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The daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from hospital after being poisoned by nerve agent, doctors said on Tuesday morning.

Yulia Skripal collapsed next to her father in Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to Novichok nerve agent. Both Skripals were in critical condition for about a month after their collapse.

Yulia's condition was upgraded from critical to stable on March 30, while her father was declared to be no longer in critical condition last Friday, one week later.

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Dr Christine Blanshard, the medical director of Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement to the media: "This is not the end of her treatment, but marks a significant milestone."

Blanshard added that Sergei, who remains in hospital, "has also made good progress" and that doctors hope that he will be discharged "in due course."

Yulia said in a statement last week that her strength "is growing daily" and described her experience as "somewhat disorientating." Both she and the hospital have said she does not want any contact with the media.

Prime Minister Theresa May said last month, before the Skripals' recovery from critical condition, that the father and daughter "may never recover fully."

Britain has accused Russia of manufacturing the poison used in the attack. Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly denied its involvement.

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The NHS accidentally published, then removed, then put back a statement on Yulia's release, prompting questions from the Russia's embassy in London.

When the statement temporarily vanished, the Embassy adopted a conspiratiorial tone and demanded to know why.

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When it reappeared, they asked whether anything had been changed, and wanted to know why.

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An NHS spokeswoman told Business Insider that the statement was taken down because the acidentally jumped the gun.

It was meant to coincide with an on-camera press conference, which ended up being pushed back because bad traffic near the hospital meant network TV cameras weren't there on time.

The scheduled text, a transcript of Dr Blanshard's spoken statement, accidentally went out at the original time. When NHS staff realised, they pulled it until the press conference had happened, about 20 minutes later.

The embassy eventually tweeted: "We congratulate Yulia Skripal on her recovery. Yet we need urgent proof that what is being done to her is done on her own free will."

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