Yulia Skripal has spoken for the first time since she was attacked with nerve gas as she revealed her 'daddy is fine' and that she will be able to leave hospital within days.
The 33-year-old said 'her strength is growing daily' and thanked the people of Salisbury for helping her and her father, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66.
The attack left the Skripals in a critical condition, but it was revealed last week that Yulia was getting better while her father was still in a critical but stable condition.
Her statement was released during a press conference by ambassador Alexander Yakovenko, in which he repeated Moscow's denial of responsibility for the attack.
Mr Yakovenko said Russia had not produced the Novichok nerve agent, adding there was 'a lot of suspicion about Britain' over a string of deaths of Russians in the UK.
Today's development could prove key to the investigation into the attack, as Yulia could soon be able to tell police about the moments before they collapsed in a park.
Yulia Skripal (left) has spoken for the first time since she was attacked with nerve gas as she revealed her father Sergei (right) 'is fine' in a statement issued today
Yulia (left) made her first phone call, to her cousin Viktoria (right), since was poisoned with a 'weapons-grade nerve agent' in which she said she plans to leave hospital soon
The statement on behalf of Yulia Skripal was issued while the Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko addressed the media at the Embassy in London (pictured)
The Foreign Office said it has conveyed to Yulia the Russian embassy's offer of consular assistance and that she 'she is now able to choose if and when to take up this offer but to date she has not done so'.
In her first statement since coming out of a coma, Yulia said: 'I woke up over a week ago now and am glad to say my strength is growing daily.
'I am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that I have received.'
She thanked healthcare workers at Salisbury District Hospital as well as 'the people of Salisbury that came to my aid when my father and I were incapacitated'.
She added: 'I am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating.
'I hope that you'll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence.'
It comes after Mr Skripal's niece Viktoria revealed that she had received a phone call from Yulia at 10.30am this morning.
Viktoria, who is trying to secure a visa in order to visit her relatives, said: 'It is a feeling of enormous relief to hear from her.'
'Everything's fine, everyone is alive': Transcript of Yulia's first phone call
The recording has not been independently verified but Viktoria said she was convinced she was talking to Yulia.
Yulia's statement was issued through the Metropolitan Police while the Russian Ambassador addressed the media at the Russian Embassy in London.
He said he would would 'meet personally' with Viktoria Skripal 'when she comes to London'.
When told that Yulia Skripal had issued a statement, Mr Yakovenko said he wanted to 'congratulate my compatriots that they are well'.
The ambassador was pressed on the embassy's jokey tweets about the attack and insisted Russia was not treating the incident as a game.
'We are taking this seriously,' he said.
Responding to the claim that Russia had a motive to target Mr Skripal, he said: 'It's not true. Absolutely not true.
'We hear all the stories and the theories about our motivations. We don't buy it. For us, these kinds of statements are unacceptable.'
Last week, the Russian Embassy seized upon reports that Yulia was conscious to demand that its remaining diplomats in London are allowed to see her.
Britain is currently fighting an information war with the Kremlin after Theresa May accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack.
Britain may now be forced to let agents of the Russian state visit the citizen the country is accused of attempting to murder.
She could also potentially identify whoever carried out the attack - which is now thought to have taken place at Mr Skripal's suburban home.
The Metropolitan Police believe Mr Skripal and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia, first came into contact with the deadly chemical at his home in Salisbury.
Sergei Skripal with his daughter Yulia are pictured before they were poisoned in Salisbury
Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory (pictured), said it has 'not verified the precise source' of the Novichok nerve agent
Detailed forensic testing revealed the highest concentration of Novichok was found on the front door.
This morning it was reported that security services located the source of the nerve agent used to poison Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
According to reports, officials found the Russian laboratory where the Novichok poison was made in the days after the attack on March 4.
But this comes after the chief of the Ministry of Defence's Porton Down laboratory said it had 'not verified the precise source' of the nerve agent - prompting a furious backlash from Russia.
A Whitehall source told The Times: 'We knew pretty much by the time of the first Cobra [the emergency co-ordination briefing that took place the same week] that it was overwhelmingly likely to come from Russia.'
Despite the blunders, the EU yesterday insisted it retained 'full confidence' in the UK's investigation of the Salisbury nerve agent attack and said Russia was to blame.
Brussels issued a strong statement in support of Britain as ministers scrambled to shore up the international coalition standing against the Kremlin.
Britain branded the plea for an apology from Russia 'perverse' and ministers hit out at the Russian claims.
Security minister Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there is 'no missing nerve agent that no-one can find' when asked about comparisons to the Iraq War.
He said there was 'no doubt that we have found nerve agent'.
He also said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had seen more intelligence 'than the average backbench MP' because he had received a Privy Council briefing on the matter.
But Mr Wallace added: 'The circle of who gets to see very sensitive information is very small because if you leak it or it gets out, people's lives are put at risk.'
Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, lunched at the Italian restaurant Zizzi (inset left) on Castle Street in Salisbury. Less than two hours later they were taken to hospital after being found slumped on a park bench (above: the route the pair walked together)
Mr Skripal and his daughter (left) stand outside the front door with another relative during a previous visit she made to the UK
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was under fire yesterday after he previously claimed Porton Down scientists had given him 'absolutely categorical' evidence the Novichok used to poison Sergei Skripal had come from Russia.
Putin has denied responsibility and demanded access to the British investigation into the March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt condemned Russia's 'brazen use of a chemical weapon on UK soil' in a speech.
The Metropolitan Police believe Mr Skripal and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia, first came into contact with the deadly chemical at his home in Salisbury.
Detailed forensic testing revealed the highest concentration of Novichok was found on the front door.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (pictured at the Lord Mayor's Banquet last week) was under fire after he previously claimed Porton Down scientists had given him 'absolutely categorical' evidence the Novichok used to poison Sergei Skripal had come from Russia
As the meeting gathered, the UK delegation to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons branded Russia's decision to call an extraordinary meeting of the body's executive council to discuss the Salisbury poisoning 'perverse'
The attempted murder investigation is continuing and, as a precautionary measure, police placed a cordon around a children's play area at nearby Montgomery Gardens.
Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning - allegations fiercely denied by Moscow.
In turn, Russia has suggested that UK intelligence officers may have been involved in the poisoning.
The Kremlin allegation came as Moscow faced increasing global isolation, with at least 26 countries expelling a total of more than 130 suspected spies.
Britain insists there is no plausible alternative explanation for the attack and has dismissed the series of suggestions emanating from Moscow as nonsense.
More than 250 counter-terrorism detectives continue to work on one of the biggest investigations since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005.
Officers are trawling through more than 5,000 hours of CCTV.
A timeline of the key developments in the Salisbury poisoning case
'It's suspicious': Russia ambassador questions why so many of Russians die in 'strange circumstances' in UK
Russia's ambassador branded Britain 'suspicious' today because of how many of his citizens die here in 'strange circumstances'.
Alexander Yakovenko seized on a row over Boris Johnson's claims about the Novichok poison used on Sergei and Yulia Skripal to escalate Russia's denials.
As the Ambassador launched into his flamboyant denials of Kremlin involvement, the Met issued a statement from Yulia Skripal revealing she woke up a week ago and was now recovering.
At his press conference in Russia's London embassy, Mr Yakovenko said: 'We have a lot suspicions about Britain.
'So many Russian citizens died here under very strange circumstances. What is happening here?'
Mr Yakovenko's press conference is the latest attempt by Russia to seize on the row, with the Kremlin also expected to raise Mr Johnson's clumsy intervention at the UN later.
Alexander Yakovenko renewed demands for Russian involvement in the investigation into what happened to Sergei and Yulia Skripal
He read out the Foreign Secretary's tweets to rebut the charges of Russian involvement. He issued them last night in an war of words with Jeremy Corbyn after he appeared to exaggerate evidence from the Porton Down laboratory.
Labour has demanded an official inquiry into whether Mr Johnson exaggerated evidence from the Porton Down laboratory on the nerve agent used in Salisbury.
Responding directly to Mr Johnson, Mr Yakovenko said: 'I like the word 'likely'. It's clever. But what I want to say is, first of all, it's not true.
'That statement is not supported by any evidence.'
And responding to the claim that Russia had a motive to target Mr Skripal, he said: 'It's not true. Absolutely not true.
'We hear all the stories and the theories about our motivations. We don't buy it. For us, these kinds of statements are unacceptable.'
Mr Yakovenko later told reporters that Russia had 'nothing to investigate' over the poisoning.
He said: 'We don't have any facts, we don't access, we don't have any evidence. What to investigate?'
Labour and party leader Jeremy Corbyn (left) has demanded an official inquiry into whether Boris Johnson (right) exaggerated evidence from the Porton Down laboratory
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