The Russian embassy in London said it would consider any “secret resettlement” of either Sergei or Yulia Skripal, the former Russian double agent and his daughter who were poisoned in Salisbury last month, as an abduction of its citizens.

If the pair were given secret new identities overseas, the opportunity to hear their version of events would be lost, the embassy said. 

“The world, while having no opportunity to interact with them, will have every reason to see this as an abduction of the two Russian nationals or at least as their isolation,” the website said.

Ms Skripal was discharged from hospital earlier on Tuesday, more than a month after she was poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent along with her father.

Asked for her reaction to the release, Theresa May said: ”Well, obviously I welcome the fact that Yulia Skripal has been discharged from hospital and I wish her the best for her continuing recovery, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the staff at the hospital in Salisbury who have looked after her and her father so well.” 

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