UK identifies two Novichok suspects as Russian agents
Russian nationals identified over Salisbury nerve agent attack
The suspects were identified through CCTV footage crosschecked with border entry data
TWO Russian nationals have been named as suspects in connection with the Salisbury poisonings in England.
There is sufficient evidence to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with offences including conspiracy to murder over the Novichok attack on ex-Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service have said.
Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said it is likely the suspects were travelling under aliases and Petrov and Boshirov are not their real names. The pair are believed to be aged around 40.
The announcement will deepen the rift between Britain and Russia after the nerve agent attack sparked a wave of diplomatic expulsions by the UK and its allies.
British authorities are understood to believe several Russians were involved in the attempted murders, which also led to 44-yearold Dawn Sturgess becoming an indirect casualty of the poisoning.
A small amount of Novichok is thought to have been used in liquid form to target the Skripals in March.
In July, a source with knowledge of the investigation claimed two suspects had been identified and had left Britain after the attack.
It is understood the suspected perpetrators were identified through CCTV footage that was cross-checked with border entry data.
The UK Government has insisted it is “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack, but Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility.
Ms Sturgess died in July, with authorities believing she and boyfriend Charlie Rowley picked up a discarded vial containing the substance. The pair fell ill on June 30 in Amesbury, near Salisbury. Mr Rowley remains seriously ill in hospital. Police believe it is linked to the poisoning of the Skripals, who were discovered slumped on a bench on March 4 and have since been discharged from hospital.
Independent investigators have confirmed the nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was the same toxic chemical that killed Dawn Sturgess three months later.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) said it had confirmed the UK’s findings, which concluded in July the substance used in Amesbury was Novichok.
Ms Sturgess, a mother of three, died eight days later having never regained consciousness. It is believed they were exposed to a military grade nerve agent from a perfume bottle discarded by those responsible for the attack on the Skripals.
The OPCW said: “The results of the analysis by the OPCW-designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that intoxicated two individuals in Amesbury and resulted in one fatality.
“The toxic chemical compound displays the same toxic properties of a nerve agent.
“It is also the same toxic chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the poisoning of Mr Sergei Skripal, Ms Yulia Skripal, and Mr Nicholas Bailey on March 4 in Salisbury.”
Six months on from the attack in Salisbury, Russia has reiterated its belief that the UK is flouting international law by apparently keeping the pair from having contact with embassy officials.
A statement released by the Russian Embassy referred to the circumstances of the March attack as “obscure” and accused British authorities of keeping the Skripals in isolation ever since their release from hospital.
It said: “They remain out of the public eye at an unknown location, unable to communicate freely with their relatives, friends, journalists or Russian officials, deprived of the freedom of movement.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)