Putin: Novichok pair civilians not criminals
Russian leader urges ‘spies’ to speak out
VLADIMIR Putin yesterday insisted that the two men accused of carrying out a novichok attack in Britain are “civilians” not criminals.
The Russian president also urged the alleged Kremlin hitmen to come forward and speak to the media. It came days after British prosecutors named the pair as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
Putin denied allegations that the men work for Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, saying they are “civilians.”
Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok in eastern Russia, he added: “We have checked what kind of people they are.
“We hope they turn up very soon and will tell everything. There is nothing criminal in it.”
But police believe that the pair were GRU officers using aliases.
Russia’s Putin yesterday
Last night, a former British intelligence officer told the Mirror: “This is very typical – deny, deny. He has to deny this because that is the Kremlin’s position on any accusation they have done something wrong.” PM Theresa May has accused Russia of “obfuscation and lies.” She said: “These are officers of the Russian military intelligence service, who used a toxic, illegal chemical weapon on the streets of our country.” Yesterday, at a Commons debate on the attacks, Security Minister Ben Wallace suggested that UK airport “baggage checks weren’t as good as they might be”, which may have helped the men smuggle the illegal substance into the country. Sergei Skripal, 67, and daughter Yulia, 34, survived the novichok attack in Salisbury, Wilts, on March 4. In July, Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the discarded poison bottle. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, was injured.