I thought the same at the time. Also the way they tried to murder Skripal, same like they did earlier with Alexander Litvinenko: by poisoning with Polonium. Th

I thought the same at the time. Also the way they tried to murder Skripal, same like they did earlier with Alexander Litvinenko: by poisoning with Polonium. They could have chosen many other ways which would look less spectacular and wouldn't put the suspicion so obviously on Russia. But obviously it was there intention that it was clear that they were behind it: both to scare any remaining dissidents and to impress some part of the Russian population with their power.