The woman found slumped next to a former Russian spy on a shopping mall bench in England is his daughter, according to a report Tuesday.
Yulia Skripal, 33, and her father, Sergei Skripal, 66, who was part of the 2010 US-Russian swap for sexy secret agent Anne Chapman, are hospitalized in critical condition after being found unconscious Sunday in Salisbury, the BBC reported.
The apparent poisoning of the father and daughter comes after the death of Skripal’s wife, Liudmila, in 2012.
A certificate recorded the 59-year-old’s death as “disseminated endometrial carcinoma,” but media reports at the time said she died in a car crash.
In the past two years, Skripal’s older brother died in Russia and his 43-year-old son died while visiting St. Petersburg, Russia, with his girlfriend. He had been taken to the hospital for liver failure.
Family members have said they believed the deaths were mysterious and thought Skripal may have been in danger, too.
The discovery of the Skripals raised comparisons to the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died of radioactive poisoning in a London hospital in November 2006.
An examination of his death said there was a “strong probability” he was killed on orders from the Russian secret service.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he didn’t want to “prejudge the investigation,” but warned that Britain would respond “appropriately and robustly” against any government found to be behind any attempted killing of the pair.
“I say to governments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on UK soil will go unsanctioned or unpunished,” he said.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any involvement and said Moscow was prepared to aid the investigation.
“We see this tragic situation but we don’t have information on what could have led to this, what he was engaged in,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Police are examining video from the shopping mall for clues and working to find out what “unknown substance” was used on the Skripals.
Skripal had been living in England since being freed as part of the swap for Chapman, who had been living undercover in New York City.
He had been convicted in Russia of spying for the British and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006.