A public inquiry in Britain into the killing of a woman in a suspected Russian nerve agent attack in 2018 heard from her mother Tuesday of the intelligence, humor and kindness of her daughter.

As well as with the aim of helping the family “grieve the loss of their loved one, and come to terms with her death”, barrister Michael Mansfield KC warned that openness in the inquiry will be “of great importance” in countering the “huge amount” of Russian disinformation about Salisbury.

They were poisoned when members of a Russian military intelligence squad are believed to have smeared Novichok on Mr Skripal’s door handle. The inquiry will examine evidence of what led to the later poisoning of Ms Sturgess and her death. Dawn Sturgess, 44, died from Novichok poisoning in Salisbury Hospital on 8 July 2018.

The 44-year-old’s contact with Novichok followed the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March that year. Police officer Nick Bailey also fell ill after becoming exposed to the chemical.

Dawn Sturgess died from exposure to Novichok in July 2018 after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which police believe had been used by Russian intelligence operatives.

A public inquiry into Dawn Sturgess's death by Novichok begins. Sturgess died in 2018 after exposure to the nerve agent, initially used in an attempted murder of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal. The inquiry seeks to uncover details of her death,

Salisbury poisoning victim Sergei Skripal believes Vladimir Putin personally ordered the Novichok attack on him and his daughter Yulia, the former spy has told the inquiry into Dawn Sturgess ’s death.