A FORMER Russian spy who was found slumped on a bench in an English town following a poison attack is no longer in critical condition and “improving rapidly,” the hospital treating him says.

Salisbury District Hospital said in a statement Sergei Skripal was “responding well to treatment” and “no longer in a critical condition”.

The hospital in southwest England issued the statement after Skripal’s daughter Yulia, who is also recovering from the March 4 attack that Britain blames on Moscow, made her first public comments about the incident in a police statement on Thursday.

“Following intense media coverage yesterday, I would like to take the opportunity to update you on the condition of the two remaining patients,” hospital director Christine Blanshard.

“As Yulia herself says, her strength is growing daily and she can look forward to the day when she is well enough to leave the hospital.

“I also want to update you on the condition of her father, Sergei Skripal. He is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition.”

The incident triggered a wave of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions and inflamed tensions between Russia and Western governments.

London blames Russia but the Kremlin denies any involvement. Britain says the poisoning was carried out with a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, a relative of the Skripals says she has not heard from them after a phone call earlier this week but she is sure the call with the daughter was authentic.

Russian state television on Thursday played a recording of what they said was a phone call from Yulia to her cousin Viktoria Skripal, who lives in Russia.

There was no explanation of how the call was recorded, and Viktoria is heard on the call expressing surprise at hearing her 33-year-old cousin.

Russia called a U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday to discuss the Skripal poisoning. The Russian ambassador to the U.N. warned Britain that it was “playing with fire” and claimed that Russia was the victim of a hasty, sloppy and ill-intentioned defamation campaign by London and its allies.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity with Britain, more than two dozen Western countries including the U.S. have ordered out over 150 Russian diplomats.

Moscow has fiercely denied its involvement in the nerve agent attack and expelled an equal number of envoys.

The diplomatic turmoil has hit lows unseen even at the height of the Cold War.