The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Novichok attack work of Russian ‘agents’
Prime Minister tells Commons two men behind Salisbury poisoning are military intelligence officers
Two Russian military intelligence officers are accused of carrying out the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Police and prosecutors announced they had enough evidence to charge the men, named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, over the poisoning.
Theresa May told MPs investigations have concluded that the two suspects are members of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.
The Prime Minister said: “The GRU is a highly-disciplined organisation with a well-established chain of command. So this was not a rogue operation. It was almost certainly also approved outside the GRU at a senior level of the Russian state.”
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia were left critically ill after being exposed to the military grade nerve agent Novichok in March. They have both recovered.
Detectives believe the front door of Mr Skripal’s Salisbury home was contaminated with Novichok on Sunday March 4. Police said CCTV shows the two suspects in the vicinity of the property on that date.
Hours later, the men left the UK on a flight from Heathrow to Moscow, two days after they had arrived at Gatwick.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu confirmed that officers have now linked the attack on the Skripals to events in Amesbury four months later. In the second incident, Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 48, were exposed to the same nerve agent used in Salisbury.
Ms Sturgess died in hospital in July, just over a week after the pair fell ill.
Mr Basu said: “We do not believe Dawn and Charlie were deliberately targeted, but became victims as a result of the recklessness in which such a toxic nerve agent was disposed of.”
The charges announced yesterday relate to the first incident but Mr Basu said officers continue to liaise with the CPS regarding the poisoning of Mr Rowley and Ms Sturgess.
Police also released an image of a counterfeit perfume bottle, found to contain a “significant amount” of Novichok. Mr Rowley told officers he found a box he thought contained perfume in a charity bin on June 27.
CPS director of legal services Sue Hemming said prosecutors in the service’s counter-terrorism division considered the evidence and concluded there was “sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and it is clearly in the public interest” to charge Petrov and Boshirov with: conspiracy to murder Mr Skripal; attempted murder of Mr Skripal, Ms Skripal and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey; use and possession of Novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act; and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Ms Skripal and Mr Bailey.
She said a request for extradition would not be made as Russia does not extradite its own citizens but she said a European Arrest Warrant has been obtained, adding: “which means if either man travels to a country where an EAW is valid, they will be arrested and face extradition on these charges for which there is no statute of limitations”.
Moscow has repeatedly denied claims that Russia was behind the attempted assassination in March.
“The GRU is a highly disciplined organisation with a wellestablished chain of command. So this was not a rogue operation. It was almost certainly also approved outside the GRU at a senior level of the Russian state. THERESA MAY