Note: this post contains personal opinions reflective only of the author's views and not necessarily of anyone else who partakes in the upkeep of this website.

The attempt at poisoning Sergei Skripal, an ex-spy who used to work for Great Britain, has been on the news lately, and one can't help but wonder at the timing that coincides with the presidential election in Russia.

The UK and the US have quickly concluded Russia was behind the attack, or at least that's what they say they have concluded. But my view is that it may be worth taking these conclusions with a grain of salt. 

It has been stated that the neurotoxin used in the incident was of Russian origin, and that may well be. But does that not sound a little fishy? I'm no expert, but I'm sure there are plenty of simpler and less suspicious ways to get rid of a person, ways that don't directly point towards the culprit.

We all know that the East-West relationship hasn't been exactly at it's peak as of late. In the US, the debate/investigation on "election hackers" still seems to go on, or so I casually observe. Now, maybe it's just me, but what I see here is a potential motivation to stage Russia to have a part in something nasty.

At the same time, Russia does have an election going on, and it does seem to me like it may be a fruitful time to come up with some East-West conflict that may benefit the current poll-favourite. Then again, I doubt he's really going to need the extra credibility to win.

What ever the truth is, conflict between nations isn't nice, and neither is somebody being murdered.