Putin bestowed honour on Novichok suspect

Sitting next to the leaders of China and Japan, Vladimir Putin insisted Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were civilians with “nothing criminal” about their trip to Salisbury.

A fortnight later and it has been claimed that the Russian president himself bestowed the nation’s highest military honour on Boshirov, whose real identity is said to be Anatoliy Chepiga, a highly decorated colonel in the GRU intelligence service.

Online investigative group Bellingcat says it has uncovered records that show Col Chepiga was quietly given the Hero of the Russian Federation award around four years ago.

In use since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the honour is issued personally by the president “as recognition of services to the state and the people of Russia involving a heroic deed”, the group says. Medals are usually handed out at public ceremonies, but they are not announced when the act of heroism is a state secret.

Bellingcat says it has gathered evidence that Col Chepiga was given the honour in December 2014. A state-run volunteer website says he was given the award for conducting a “peacekeeping mission”, while the award was also mentioned online by his military school, according to the group.

The school does not explain why he was given the medal, saying only that it was “by decree from the Russian president”.

Ruslan Boshirov AKA Anatoliy Chepiga.