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https://www.ft.com/content/ec696a2c-c1b2-11e8-95b1-d36dfef1b89a
The real identity of one of the two prime suspects in the attempted
murder of Sergei Skripal, the former Russian double agent, in Salisbury has
allegedly been uncovered, casting fresh doubt on Russia’s claims that the
men were innocent tourists framed as part of a UK conspiracy against Moscow.
Earlier this month British police took the unusual step of releasing CCTV
footage of two men whom they named as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov.
Officers said the Russians had travelled to the UK using aliases to carry
out the poisoning of Mr Skripal using the nerve agent novichok.
The attack left Mr Skripal and his daughter critically ill for weeks, and
may have inadvertently led to the death of an innocent woman, Dawn Sturgess,
in nearby Amesbury four months later. It triggered a fierce diplomatic row
between Russia and the UK.
On Wednesday the investigative websites Bellingcat and The Insider claimed
to have unmasked the true identity of Boshirov as Anatoliy Chepiga, a highly
decorated colonel in Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
UK security officials declined to comment on the reports but it is
understood British intelligence is not disputing the accuracy of the
revelation.
Bellingcat and The Insider published photographs of the person they said is
Col Chepiga. The pictures show a strong resemblance to the CCTV and passport
images released by the British police.
The new development came as Theresa May, UK prime minister, accused Russia,
which has consistently denied being involved in the incident, of seeking to
“obfuscate” its involvement in the Salisbury attack.
Addressing the UN Security Council’s meeting on counter-proliferation on
Wednesday, Mrs May said: “The United Kingdom has presented detailed
evidence, clearly laid out in charges of attempted murder and the use and
possession of a chemical weapon against two agents of the Russian state.
“We have taken appropriate action, with our allies, and we will continue to
take the necessary steps to ensure our collective security. Russia has only
sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication.”
In the meeting chaired by US President Donald Trump, Russia’s foreign
minister Sergei Lavrov sat just a few seats away from Mrs May as she
launched her blistering attack.
He used his speech at the council meeting to repeat Moscow’s accusations
that Britain was hiding information in the case.
“There has been an increase in rhetoric — under the guise of ‘highly
likely’ — in connection to the Salisbury case,” he said. “At the same
time, the United Kingdom stubbornly shies away from the joint investigation
that we repeatedly proposed, although this is what it is obliged to do.”
“The question arises: if they do not want to co-operate, then do they have
something to hide? We again call upon London to establish a constructive
dialogue with the goal of establishing the truth,” he added.
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Mrs May later used her speech at the UN general assembly to accuse Russia of
“flagrantly breach[ing] international norms — from the seizing of
sovereign territory to the reckless use of chemical weapons on the streets
of Britain by agents of the Russian GRU”.
It is just two weeks since the two suspects appeared on Russian state-
supported broadcaster RT to protest their innocence, explaining they were
sports nutritionists who had travelled to Salisbury to see the city’s
cathedral and other tourist sites.
The claims sparked incredulity from security and government officials in
London who insist the operation was carried out by the GRU and signed off by
senior figures at the highest levels of Russian government.
Bellingcat and The Insider claimed Col Chepiga graduated from one of Russia
’s elite military training academies in 2001 and was recruited by the GRU
some time after 2003.
The websites added that he obtained his alias of Ruslan Boshirov around 2010
and in December 2014 was awarded Russia’s highest state award, Hero of the
Russian Federation, an honour bestowed personally by the Russian president. |
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