Skripal: Did a third Russian travel to UK with hitmen?
A MYSTERY third Russian travelled into and out of Britain at the same time as the two suspects accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, it has been claimed.
The same man is alleged to have travelled to Prague with one of the would-be assassins in 2014 and had a similar passport number to both of them.
Russian news agency Fontanka said it analysed flight passenger lists and concluded that Sergey Fedotov, 45, was ‘perfect for the role of the third suspect’.
It could find no trace of a person matching his passport details on social media or in databases relating to a home or car.
There have already been claims that a third person assisted Russian spies Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in their failed mission to kill former double-agent Mr Skripal with a nerve agent in March.
Fedotov, believed to be an alias, is reported to have arrived in the UK on March 2 – the same day as the two other suspects – but on a different flight. He left on the same flight as them on March 4. He allegedly used a passport with a similar issue number to Petrov and Boshirov, who have been unmasked as agents from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency working for the Kremlin. Boshirov is Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, while Petrov is Alexander Mishkin, a military doctor, investigative website Bellingcat reported.
Flight details appear to show Fedotov travelled to many of the same places as Petrov and Boshirov, including Ukraine and Switzerland. He visited London in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In January-February 2014, he travelled to the Czech Republic at the same time as Petrov.
Yesterday, it was claimed Petrov and Boshirov could have been tailing Mr Skripal as early as 2014. They are said to have flown to the Czech Republic in October 2014 about the same time as the former MI6 informer. Mr Skripal apparently travelled there to help Czech counter-intelligence services uncover Russian spies.
A source in the Czech intelligence service told Radiozurnal: ‘This suggests that Skripal was being followed by the two men long before the attempted poisoning.’