Skripal was involved in the smuggling of chemical weapons.
Summary
Direct connection between Russia’s undeniable progress in Syria and Skripal case, with the West using it to harm Russia’s reputation as a peacemaker.
Disproof
Many competing and contradictory stories promulgated by Russian state-controlled media, the only connecting thread being to confuse their audience and exclude any possibility of Russian involvement euvsdisinfo.eu/disinformation-cases/?text=sergei+skripal&disinfo_issue=&date=, .
The nerve agent has been identified as Novichok (which means newcomer in Russian). It is known to be more powerful than VX and was developed in Russia in the 1970s and 1980s www.voanews.com/a/british-prime-minister-russia-poisoning-spy/4294683.html, . It's so unusual, that very few scientists outside of Russia have any real experience in dealing with it and no country outside of Russia is known to have developed the substance edition.cnn.com/2018/03/13/europe/what-is-novichok-nerve-agent-intl/index.html, , theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264, .
In its statement, the European Union expressed shock at the offensive use of any military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, for the first time on European soil in over 70 years. www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/03/19/statement-by-the-foreign-affairs-council-on-the-salisbury-attack/,
Further debunking by Julia Davis: twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/975472254107701249,
Furthermore, Russia does not have the best record as a "peacemaker" as they support Assad and have bombed civilians in Syria www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/syria-eastern-ghouta-russia/554246/, and using those vents for disinformation purposes euvsdisinfo.eu/syria-attack-a-predictable-disinformation-strategy/, . Russia repeatedly cast veto of United Nations Security Council action on Syria https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-chemicalweapons/russia-casts-10th-u-n-veto-on-syria-action-blocking-inquiry-renewal-idUSKBN1DG31I even if the UN Security Council-mandated investigation concluded that both ISIL and the Syrian government have been responsible for chemical attacks in Syria https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/11/570192-both-isil-and-syrian-government-responsible-use-chemical-weapons-un-security.