Salisbury Novichok poisoning: Two Russian nationals named as suspects

[Blackleaf]

Two Russian nationals have been named as suspects in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

There is "sufficient evidence" to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov over the attack in Salisbury, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) say...

Salisbury Novichok poisoning: Two Russian nationals named as suspects

BBC News
5th September 2018

Two Russian nationals have been named as suspects in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

There is "sufficient evidence" to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov over the attack in Salisbury, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) say.

They are thought to have been using aliases and are about 40.

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with nerve agent Novichok in March.

Sue Hemming, CPS director of legal services, said there was enough evidence "to provide a realistic prospect of conviction" and that "it is clearly in the public interest to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov".

The offences include conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; the use and possession of Novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act; and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey fell ill responding to the incident in Salisbury.

Prime Minister Theresa May is to make a statement in the House of Commons later to update MPs on the investigation, Downing Street has said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45421445

 

[Danbones]

STOP WITH THE 'FAKE "Russia did it" NEWS' PLEASE.

we have had enough!!!

LOL, Theresa May - she has mattress material stuffed in her head so she can lie while standing up!

 

[Hoid]

Simply Putin being Putin.

The longer the world ignores this idiot the worse it all will end up.

 

[Blackleaf]

Salisbury Novichok poisoning: Russian nationals named as suspects
BBC News
5 September 2018
Two Russian nationals have been named as suspects in the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The men, using the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, are thought to be officers from Russia's military intelligence service, the PM said.
Scotland Yard and the CPS say there is enough evidence to charge the men.
Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in March.
Det Sgt Nick Bailey also fell ill after responding to the incident in Salisbury.
Police are linking the attack to a separate Novichok poisoning on 30 June, when Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley became unwell at a house in Amesbury, about eight miles from Salisbury.
Ms Sturgess died in hospital on 9 July. Mr Rowley was discharged from hospital on 20 July.
Speaking in the Commons, Prime Minister Theresa May said the government had concluded, from intelligence provided by UK agencies, that the men were part of the GRU intelligence service.
The poisoning was "not a rogue operation" and was "almost certainly" approved at a senior level of the Russian state, she said.
"We must now step up our collective efforts specifically against the GRU," she added.

Police released CCTV showing the two men at Gatwick Airport

They were then seen in Salisbury on 4 March, having visited for reconnaissance the previous day

Mrs May promised "the full range of tools from across our national security apparatus" would be used to "counter the threat" caused by Russia.
She condemned the "despicable attack" which "left four people fighting for their lives and one innocent woman dead".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the use of military-grade nerve agent on the streets of Britain was an "outrage and beyond reckless".
The two suspects, believed to have been using aliases, travelled on Russian passports and are thought to be aged about 40.
The CPS is not applying to Russia for the extradition of the two men, as Russia does not extradite its own nationals.
But a European Arrest Warrant has been obtained in case they travel to the EU.
'Doesn't mean much'
Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters the names of the two Russian men suspected in the poisoning "do not mean anything to me".
Andrey Kortunoy, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, said the Kremlin will question everything the UK has said and "the fact that you have two photos and two maybe fake names doesn't mean too much".
Russia's RIA news agency has since reported that Russia's charge d'affaires in London - the embassy's top diplomat - was summoned by the UK on Wednesday.
Meanwhile Interfax news agency reports that Britain's ambassador to Russia has met with the Russian foreign ministry.

Yulia and Sergei Skripal fell ill after Mr Skripal's front door was sprayed with Novichok
Sue Hemming, CPS director of legal services, said there was enough evidence "to provide a realistic prospect of conviction" and that it was "clearly in the public interest to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov".
The offences include conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; the use and possession of Novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act; and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.
Scotland Yard's Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK counter-terrorism policing, said on Wednesday that Det Sgt Bailey "continues to make good progress but remains off work".
The Metropolitan Police said the two men arrived at Gatwick Airport from Moscow on 2 March and stayed at the City Stay Hotel in Bow Road, east London.
On 4 March they travelled to Salisbury - having also visited for reconnaissance the previous day - where Mr Skripal's front door was contaminated with Novichok.
Officers believe a modified perfume bottle was used to spray the door.
The pair flew from Heathrow to Moscow later that night.
While traces of Novichok were found in the London hotel room, there is no risk to other guests who were staying at the hotel at the time, police said.
They now want to hear from anyone who was a guest there from 4 March to 4 May.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he had been assured by Transport for London and police that there was no risk to public health in London.

The hotel in east London, where police say Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov stayed before they travelled to Salisbury, is 'open for business as usual'
Police said Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley were later exposed to Novichok after handling a contaminated container, labelled as Nina Ricci Premier Jour perfume.
Mr Rowley told police he found the box containing the small bottle and an applicator - all later found to be counterfeit - in a charity bin.
He tried to put the two parts together and got some of the contents on himself. His partner Ms Sturgess applied some of the contents to her wrists and became unwell.

The counterfeit perfume bottle recovered from Mr Rowley's home and the box police say it came in
The bottle, with a modified nozzle, had contained a "significant amount" of Novichok, Scotland Yard said.
Mr Basu said: "We don't yet know where the suspects disposed of the Novichok they used to attack the door, where Dawn and Charlie got the bottle that poisoned them, or if it is the same bottle used in both poisonings."
But he added that "the manner in which the bottle and packaging has been adapted makes it a perfect cover for smuggling the weapon into the country, and a perfect delivery method for the attack against the Skripal's front door".

Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley were also poisoned by Novichok
Mr Basu confirmed that the two poisoning cases were related.
"It now forms one investigation," he said. "We do not believe Dawn and Charlie were deliberately targeted, but became victims as a result of the recklessness in which such a toxic nerve agent was disposed of."
What happens now?

Analysis by BBC News diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus

The decision to name two Russian individuals as suspects in the Skripal case is a significant development - raising the level of evidence on which the British government's charges are based and potentially giving added weight to calls for additional international sanctions against Moscow.
The US, along with a swathe of Britain's allies, expelled a significant number of Russian diplomats (many thought to be intelligence agents) in the wake of the initial evidence that a Russian military grade nerve agent had been used in the Salisbury attack.
Britain will be hoping that other countries may now show more enthusiasm for stepped-up sanctions.
The reaction from Russia
BBC Monitoring
Political talk shows on the main Kremlin-controlled national channels interrupted their broadcasts to mention the news.
Sarcasm and disbelief at the British government's actions were the dominant themes in reaction to what they call the "Skripal affair".
"We are expecting new sanctions, of course - with pleasure," a prominent talk show host said live on air on channel Rossiya 1.
Over on Channel One, a host said that even though it had taken Britain "roughly half a year" to name the suspects, sanctions had been imposed on Russia long before this.
"Is this how this just world, where everyone loves each other, looks like?" he asked a guest advocating that the Kremlin soften its policy towards the West.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45421445

 

[Danbones]

Photos of Russian "Spies" Doctored in Skripal Novichok Case

Blackstone Intel Exclusive: Analysis shows that photos of alleged assassins Petrov and Boshirov were doctored by Scotland Yard as part of the falsification of a timeline of events in the Skripal poisoning.

Well, effing Oooooops!

But we knew something like that would be coming.

 

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Did the Russian assassins have HELP in the UK? Security services hunt for 'Doctor Novichok' medic whose job it was to keep them safe from toxin and a fourth man 'who met up with Salisbury hitmen'



British intelligence are hunting a medic known as Dr Novichok they say accompanied the hitmen sent to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the Salisbury nerve agent attack. It comes days after the identities of the suspects were given as Ruslan Borishov (pictured, top-left) and Alexander Petrov, both of which police believe are assumed names. An insider says officers know their real identities and it is believed Dr Novichok's role was to avoid cross-contamination as well as to ensure that the police and NHS did not get involved if one of the attackers accidentally poisoned themselves. Borishov and Petrov have claimed they were merely visiting Salisbury Cathedral.

 

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Salisbury poisoning suspects 'linked to Czech blast'​

Two Russian men suspected of carrying out the 2018 Salisbury poisonings are being linked to an explosion at an arms depot in the Czech Republic.

Evidence links the 2014 explosion, and an attempted poisoning in Bulgaria, to a unit of Russian military intelligence - the GRU - the BBC has learnt.

European intelligence agencies believe the GRU's Unit 29155 is tasked with sabotage, subversion and assassination.

The Russian government said the claims were unfounded and absurd.

Czech authorities say they are expelling 18 Russian diplomats believed to be intelligence operatives in retaliation for the explosion, which killed two people.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the country had to react to revelations tying the blast to the GRU.

The country will inform Nato and European Union allies about its suspicions, and will discuss the matter at an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday, its acting Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said.

The Russian foreign ministry said it would "take retaliatory measures that will force the authors of this provocation to fully understand their responsibility for destroying the foundation of normal ties between our countries".

A huge explosion tore apart an ammunitions storage depot in a forest in the Czech Republic on 16 October 2014.

Windows in nearby buildings were blown out and local schools were evacuated as emergency vehicles rushed to the scene. The remains of two men - aged 56 and 69 - who worked at the site were found more than a month later.

The blast was assumed to have been an accident.

The explosion destroyed a remote ammunition storage facility situated in a Czech forest

Salisbury poisoning suspects 'linked to Czech blast' - BBC News