MOSCOW, March 15 (INP): The United Kingdom (UK) is braced for retaliation from Moscow after Theresa May blamed the Russian state for the Salisbury poisoning, and announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and a crackdown on “corrupt elites”. The prime minister told the House of Commons the Kremlin had responded with “sarcasm, contempt and defiance” to the 24-hour deadline the government set on Monday for explaining the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal. “Their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events,” May told MPs. She said: “There is no alternative conclusion other than the Russian state was responsible for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter.” It was “unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom”, May said. Skripal remains in a critical condition after the incident in Salisbury last week. Analysis carried out by government experts has found that the former spy and his daughter Yulia were exposed to a banned nerve agent, likely to have been manufactured in Russia.