The attacking of a former Russian spy and his daughter in London via nerve gas has caused large amounts of tension between Moscow and the West. The gas, which has yet to be verified by British scientists, is most likely a form of Novichok. This agent was created by the Soviets secretly during the height of the Cold War. Essentially, it is designed to attack and destroy the nerves in the body. In a lab accident during the developmental stages of this agent, Andrei Zheleznyakov, a scientist working on the Novichok project, was exposed to the gas. The damage left him unable to walk and left him with lasting epileptic episodes. He also lost his ability to read or function on a scientific level.

Russian ambassadors and Vladimir Putin have both denied any accusations of foul play on the part of Russia. When asked about the attack, Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov stated that the accusations were “based on assumptions, based on suspicions, fueled by emotions.”

While the British government is not undisturbed by the fact that what is speculated to be a Russian assassination happened on British soil, the main focus of their grievance is that these types of sparsely controlled gas attacks put the lives of British citizens in danger. “Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country. Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others,” UK Prime Minister Theresa May said.

As an act of protest to such attacks, multiple European nations along with the United States have expelled Russian diplomats and authority figures from their respective borders. The Russian Consulate in Seattle is being closed down, and 60 officials are being removed from the United States. Moscow responded by removing 23 British diplomats and closing down the British Consulate in St. Petersburg.

President Trump has received criticism for not only refraining from specifically addressing this attack, but ignoring the opportunity to do so during a call he had with Vladimir Putin, where the U.S. President congratulated Putin on his success in the Russian election.