Poisoned Daughter of Ex-Spy Is Out of Critical Condition

LONDON — Yulia Skripal, who was found poisoned on a park bench in a small English city this month along with her father, former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal, is showing improvement and is no longer in critical condition, the hospital that is treating her said Thursday.

British authorities have blamed Russia for the poisoning, which they say was carried out with a deadly nerve agent developed by Soviet scientists and known as a Novichok.

“I’m pleased to be able to report an improvement in the condition of Yulia Skripal,” Dr. Christine Blanshard, medical director for Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement. “She has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day.”

Yulia Skripal’s father remains in critical but stable condition, the hospital said in a statement. Sgt. Nick Bailey, an emergency medical worker who was also exposed to the nerve agent, was released from the hospital a week ago; there was no further word on his condition.

The attack has significantly raised tensions between the West and Russia, which has denied any involvement. Days after Britain and its allies announced that they would expel more than 150 Russians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would respond in kind: It expelled 60 diplomats from the United States and shut the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg.

Russia has already expelled 23 Britons. The Americans were given until April 5 to leave.

The announcements came a day after British authorities said that Yulia Skripal and her father, a former colonel for Russian military intelligence who was widely believed to have been a double agent, had been poisoned after the nerve agent was applied to the front door of their house, resolving one of the many mysteries in the case.

The BBC reported Thursday that Sergei Skripal had apparently touched the nerve agent with his right hand, and his daughter with her left hand.

The Metropolitan Police also said Thursday that the search for the source of the poisoning of the Skripals was now focused on the area around their home in the cathedral city of Salisbury, about 85 miles southwest of London.

To that end, police placed a cordon around a children’s play area at a park near Sergei Skripal’s home, although they sought to allay fears that members of the public were at risk of being poisoned by describing the move as a precautionary measure.

“I would like to reiterate Public Health England’s advice that the risk to the public is low,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon said in a statement.

Previously, authorities had advised members of the public who had been near the Skripals on March 4, the day they collapsed unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, to wash their clothes, put unwashable items into sealed plastic bags, wash their eyeglasses in warm water and clean their phones with baby wipes.

The advisory applied to people who had visited two locations where Skripal and his daughter had spent time that day: an Italian restaurant and a pub. As many as 500 customers could be affected, authorities said.