EX-RUSSIAN spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia have spent the first anniversary of the Novichok attack in hiding – forcing the MoD to deliver flowers to the family grave.

The pair still live in fear following the shocking attack which sent shockwaves around the world and have not been able to visit the grave of Sergei’s wife Liudmila and his son Alexander.

Instead, a worker from the MoD has been seen laying flowers and looking after the graves in Salisbury, Wilts.

A security source told the Mirror: “Holding on to memories of the wife and son must be made very difficult by the serious threat to their lives they are experiencing and have suffered from already.

“Not being able to visit their graves, perhaps never again, is simply heartbreaking and so the delivery of flowers to the graveside, just knowing it was happening, may be a comfort.”

SECRET LOCATION
Sergei, 67, and 34-year-old Yulia are still recovering from the near-death poisoning and are currently living in a secret remote location in the UK.

It comes as the massive Novichok clean-up was declared over earlier this week.

More than 800 troops took part after the nerve agent was discovered in the Wiltshire towns of Salisbury and Amesbury.

Defra will hand over the last site to be declared safe to the council.

General Tyrone Urch, Commander Home Command, said: “Our personnel have demonstrated genuine courage.

“Novichok is probably one of the most dangerous chemicals in existence today.

EASY TO SPREAD
“And you don’t need very much of it. It’s very easy to spread.”

Top Brass said 250 deliberate operations were conducted inside the “hot zone” where Novichok was believed to be present.

In total 13,000 hours was spent in full protective gear in contaminated sites. Over 5,000 suspect samples were tested at the MoD’s Porton Down lab.

Dawn Sturgess died after spraying the toxin from a discarded perfume bottle.

Partner Charlie Rowley and Det Sgt Nick Bailey were contaminated.