| Employees play “Nashi v Salisbury” (Our guys in Salisbury) board game in the office of Igroland company in Moscow |
A board game that makes light of last year’s nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain has gone on sale in Russia.
Players of “Our Guys In Salisbury” roll dice to advance across the board from Moscow to Salisbury, the city where Britain says two Russian spies used a chemical weapon to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter. They both survived but another person who came into contact with the chemical died.
Russia denies involvement, and the two suspects say they were visiting the city as tourists to see its cathedral. The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on them.
The winner of the game is the one who makes it across Europe to Salisbury – whose cathedral appears on the board in crosshairs next to chemical weapons experts wearing protective suits – with the most points.
“The message of our design is that it’s a kind of humorous response to this torrent of dirt and information from Western media directed at our nation,” said the game’s lead designer, Nikita Filipov.
The manufacturers have produced 5,000 copies of the game for sale in Russia. There are no plans to sell it abroad.