A third Russian military intelligence officer who carried out a reconnaissance mission before the poisoning of Sergei Skripal has been identified by counter terrorism police and the security services, the Telegraph reports with reference to its own sources.
The GRU agent is believed to have visited Salisbury to help plan the attack before two of his colleagues brought weapons grade nerve agent into the UK.
According to The Telegraph, the law enforcers keep his name secret.
A few days ago, Bellingcat published the results of its journalistic investigation. The OSINT platform states that the real name of ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ (one of the alleged poisoners) is Anatoly Chepiga. Moreover, Boshirov-Chepiga is a GRU Colonel and Hero of Russia, the journalists say.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the information ‘stuffing’. She made a statement after British PM Theresa May held the Kremlin responsible for the situation during her recent speech at the UN Security Council.
In turn, the British Home Office denied the Russian Prosecutor General’s proposal to provide legal assistance in the investigation of the Salisbury crime. The British side stressed they had no intention to ask Moscow for any help.
