Investigators ID 3rd man in poisoning

LONDON: British investigators have identified a Russian military intelligence officer as a third suspect in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, two European security sources said.

The sources confirmed a report by the investigative website Bellingcat which on Thursday identified Denis Sergeev, a high-ranking GRU officer and a graduate of Russia’s Military Diplomatic Academy, as the suspect.

Mr Skripal, a former officer in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of spies to MI6, and his daughter Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after being poisoned with the Novichok militarygrade nerve agent. Both later recovered.

Last September, British prosecutors charged two Russians — known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov — with attempted murder in their absence. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning.

Bellingcat said that Mr Sergeev used the cover name Sergey Fedotov when operating internationally.

The website said that a passport under the Fedotov name was issued by the same entity in Moscow which issued fake passports for other GRU operatives, including Mr Petrov and Mr Boshirov.

Bellingcat said it had traced extensive travel by Mr Sergeev.