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The “strength of the support” shown to the UK over the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter has been encouraging, the foreign secretary has said.

Boris Johnson said the UK had been talking to friends and there had been a “willingness” to show “solidarity”. Russia’s foreign minister said claims of Russian involvement were “rubbish”.

The UK has given Russia a midnight deadline to explain why a Russian-made nerve agent was used in the attack. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia had been refused access to the substance that was used to poison Mr Skripal and it would not respond to the ultimatum until it was given access.

The UK ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

Former double agent Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury city centre in Wiltshire on 4 March. They remain in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey, who fell ill attending to the pair, remains seriously ill, but has been talking to his family.

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Russia’s President Putin ordered the shooting down of a passenger plane that was reportedly carrying a bomb and targeting the opening of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, he says in a new film.

In the two-hour film, posted online, Mr Putin says he was told a plane from Ukraine to Turkey had been hijacked as the Games were about to start. It was found to be a false alarm, he says. The plane was not shot down.

The film comes ahead of an election he is expected to win on 18 March.

Mr Putin faces seven challengers but none are expected to attract widespread support and the most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing. “I was told: a plane en route from Ukraine to Istanbul was seized, captors demand landing in Sochi,” Mr Putin says in the film, Reuters reported.

The pilots of a Turkish Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800, flying from Kharkiv to Istanbul with 110 people on board, said a passenger had a bomb and had told them to divert the plane to Sochi, reporter Andrey Kondrashov says.

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A 17-year-old boy has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years for attacking six moped riders with acid while trying to steal their bikes.

Derryck John, from Croydon, previously admitted carrying out the attacks in the north and east of London on 13 July last year. He sprayed the riders in the face with a noxious liquid and stole two mopeds before trying to take another four.

One of the victims was left with “life-changing injuries,” police said.

John appeared via video-link at Wood Green Crown Court where he previously pleaded guilty to 12 offences.

These included six counts of throwing a corrosive liquid with intent to disable, burn, maim, disfigure or cause grievous bodily harm, two counts of robbery and four counts of attempted robbery.

About 180 military personnel have been deployed to Salisbury to help in the investigation into the attempted murder of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter.

The military personnel – drawn mostly from the Army, but also from the Royal Marines and RAF – are experts in chemical warfare and decontamination.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed on Sunday afternoon after being exposed to a nerve agent. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has described the attack as “outrageous”.

Those deployed include instructors from the Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre and the 29 Explosive Ordnance Group, who are experts in bomb disposal. The military has also sent 18 vehicles.

The Metropolitan Police said the counter-terrorism unit has requested the military’s assistance “to remove a number of vehicles and objects from the scene”, including ambulances that may have been contaminated while assisting the victims. The public should not be alarmed and there is no evidence to suggest a wide public health risk at this time, the police added.

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Police in Austria say a 23-year-old man has admitted carrying out knife attacks in Vienna which left four people seriously injured on Wednesday evening.

The man, an Afghan national, has denied a political motive for the attacks.

Three members of the same family were hurt in the first attack at Nestroyplatz at 19:45 (18:45 GMT) and an unrelated man, 20, was stabbed nearby around half an hour later. The suspect reportedly told police he had been in a “bad, aggressive mood”.

The 23-year-old said he had attacked the family – parents and a teenage daughter – because he was angry about his situation in life, Vienna police said in a statement (in German). He said he had attacked the 20-year-old man, an acquaintance, because he held him responsible for his past drug addiction, the police added.

The fourth victim is a fellow Afghan national, local media report. Earlier reports had said he was from Chechnya. The father of the family, who is 67, remains in a critical condition in hospital. The lives of the mother, 56, and 17-year-old daughter, as well as the 20-year-old unrelated victim, are now out of danger.

The suspect categorically denied a political motivation when questioned, police said.