Skripal suspect named as Russian officer
One of the two suspects in the Salisbury poisoning of Sergei Skripal has been identified as a decorated colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, according to a Britain-based investigative group
1979: Anatoliy Chepiga born in village of Nikolaevka in Russia’s far-eastern Amur region 2001: Graduates with honours from elite military academy in Blagoveshchensk. Assigned to serve in Gru-run Spetsnaz brigade in Khabarovsk – unit plays key role in second Chechen war 2009: Reportedly transfers to Moscow. Begins working undercover, using alias Ruslan Boshirov 2014: Receives Russia’s highest state honour – Hero of the Russian Federation – possibly for his service in Crimea or eastern Ukraine. Medal, awarded in secret ceremony, typically handed out by Russian president
March 2-4, 2018: Visits UK, along with second Russian who uses name of Alexander Petrov. CCTV images show pair in Salisbury before alleged poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok nerve agent July: Police link Salisbury attack to Novichok contamination in nearby Amesbury that kills British woman Dawn Sturgess and seriously injures her partner, Charlie Rowley
September 13 After UK police name Boshirov and Petrov as suspects, pair appear on Russian TV claiming they were visiting Salisbury as tourists and denying any role in poisoning