The story that attracted ridicule from the start

ALMOST as soon as the jaw-dropping claim was made, ridicule followed when the would-be Salisbury assassins tried to pass themselves off as innocent tourists on a sightseeing weekend.

Eight days after their mugshots were plastered around the world, the pair claimed they had travelled to the UK to see attractions including Salisbury Cathedral’s magnificent ‘123-metre spire’.

Paraded on the Kremlin-funded broadcaster Russia Today, the pair insisted they were ‘Alexander Petrov’ and ‘Ruslan Boshirov’, the aliases Scotland Yard said they had used to enter Britain.

They add that the timing of the trip and the falling ill of a former double agent, was a ‘fantastical coincidence’.

It came after Russian president Vladimir Putin had already claimed the pair were ‘civilians’ in a PR offensive after details of their mission had been revealed by the Metropolitan Police.

To press the point, Petrov and Boshirov then appeared in a stage-managed interview that drew a furious response from Theresa May, who accused the Kremlin of peddling ‘lies and blatant fabrication’.

The Prime Minister, who had earlier told the Commons the men were members of Russia’s feared GSU, said Russia’s denials ‘insulted the public’s intelligence’.

In the 25-minute recording, during which they drank cognac to ‘settle their nerves’, the pair claimed that their lives had been ‘turned upside down’ since being named as suspects.

Their comments drew global condemnation, with the pair failing to explain why traces of novichok were found in the east London hotel room they used before travelling to the Skripals’ home.

Body language experts said the pair appeared to be reciting ‘guide book monologues’ about Salisbury. The pair claim to have their own images of their visit but these have yet to be released. Images backing up their claims to have visited a park and drank coffee have also failed to emerge.