Two Russians charged in nerve agent poisoning
British authorities charge two Russian men with attempted murder over the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter.
One of the men wanted by British authorities for poisoning Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal earlier this year has been unmasked as a highly decorated colonel in the Russian military who once received a prestigious honor by the Kremlin, a new report claims.
Investigative journalist group Bellingcat reported Wednesday that the real identity of Ruslan Boshirov – one of the men wanted in the nerve agent attack against Skripal and his daughter, Yulia – is actually Colonel Anatoliy Valdimirovhic Chepiga.
(Left) A passport photo obtained by Bellingcat believed to be Anatoliy Vladimirovhic Chepiga, the real name of Ruslan Boshirov, one of the men accused of poisoning Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. (Bellingcat/AP)
Bellingcat said they obtained extracts from the passport file of Anatoliy Vladimirovhic Chepiga, whose photo appears to look like a younger version of the man identified as Rusland Boshirov.
British officials have not commented on the report; however, officials have said in the past that they believe Boshirov and his accomplice, Alexander Petrov, may have travelled to the U.K. using false passports and aliases.
EX-RUSSIAN SPY SERGEI SKRIPAL'S POISONING: WHAT TO KNOW
The two men – under their believed aliases – have been charged in absentia by British authorities earlier this month with poisoning the Skripals by using the Soviet-made nerve agent novichok.
The Skripals survived the March 4 attack, but another woman, Dawn Sturgess, who was not connected to the initial incident, died in July after being exposed to the same substance.
British authorities accused the pair of being undercover officers for the Russian military intelligence, the GRU. They both have denied the accusations and have insisted in a Russia TV interview that they were only on holiday in Salisbury during the apparent poisoning.
Russia has also denied the allegations and any involvement in the poisoning of the Skirpals.
In this video grab provided by the RT channel , Ruslan Boshirov, left, and Alexander Petrov attend their first public appearance in an interview with the Kremlin-funded RT channel in Moscow. (AP)
Putin himself said Russian authorities know the identities of the two men but insisted that they were civilians and there is "nothing criminal" about them.
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There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Bellingcat's claim.
According to Bellingcat, who conducted the investigation with The Telegraph, Chepiga, 39, is a highly decorated officer with Russian military intelligence who served in Chechnya and was bestowed Russia’s highest state award – Hero of the Russian Federation – in 2014. It was personally given to Chepiga by President Vladimir Putin in a ceremony shrouded with secrecy.
A former senior Russian military officer told Bellingcat that Chepiga’s high rank and experience strongly suggests that “the job was ordered at the highest level,” adding that an assassination attempt of less importance would have been carried out by a lower ranking officer.
Skripal, 66, was a Russian military intelligence officer turned double agent for Britain. He and his daughter were taken to a secret location for their security after being released from the hospital.
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