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PUTIN'S HITMEN
Salisbury suspects ARE Kremlin spies as pair seen smiling after Novichok hit
RUSSIAN spies wanted over the Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal have today been sensationally named by police.
Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov have been linked to the attempted hit on the former MI6 mole and his daughter - and cops have now issued a European Arrest Warrant for the pair.
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Petrov and Boshirov - suspected to be travelling under aliases - arrived in the country at Gatwick Airport before getting a train from London to Salisbury.
Incredible CCTV footage shows the pair - who are believed to be in the 40s - smiling as they stroll through the city on the day of the Skripal attack.
They were filmed "moments before" the botched hit on March 4 and left the country hours later in a flight out of Heathrow, cops said.
It is understood Petrov and Boshirov stayed in the City Stay Hotel, Bow, East London during their time in the UK.
A spokesperson for the hotel said Public Health England confirmed there is "no health risk whatsoever" to our guests or staff.
What we know so far...
- Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov wanted over attempted Skripal hit
- Cops have not sought extradition but European Arrest Warrant issued
- Suspects caught on CCTV in Salisbury “moments before attack”, cops said
- Petrov and Boshirov stayed in City Stay Hotel, East London, during time in UK
- Cops discovered minute traces of Novichok in hotel room two months after attack
- Skripal Novichok brought into UK in Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume bottle
- Kremlin hit back at claims and denied Russian role in botched assassination
- Theresa May told MPs the suspects were Russian military intelligence officers
Cops searching their room on May 4 - almost two months after the attack in Salisbury - are said to have discovered minute traces of Novichok.
Police said Novichok was brought into Britain in a Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume bottle with a specially made poison applicator.
Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions today, Theresa May told the Commons the suspects were members of the Russian Military Intelligence Service and were not carrying out a "rogue operation".
Mrs May said: “Based on a body of intelligence, the Government has concluded that the two individuals named by the police and CPS are officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU.”
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Sue Hemming, CPS: Evidence to charge Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire
The PM confirmed that Petrov and Boshirov have been charged with conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey.
DS Bailey was the hero cop rushed to hospital after he helped the Skripals in Salisbury.
He has since recovered from traumatic incident.
In a joint statement with Scotland Yard, the CPS said: "There is sufficient evidence to charge two Russian nationals named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with offences including conspiracy to murder over the Salisbury nerve agent attack."
Police will not be seeking extradition for the pair, but Interpol Red Notices - which alerts all member countries that suspects are wanted - have been issued.
Scotland Yard also confirmed that both suspects had been to the UK before on the same passports and "travelled extensively on them in the past".
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Police name two Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov as suspects in the Salisbury novichok attack
The Kremlin has hit back at the announcement today with spokesman Dmitry Peskov denying any Russian role in the poisoning.
Peskov added that Moscow has no new information about the attack because Britain has refused to share case files.
The breakthrough in the Skripal case came after cops collected 4,000 hours of CCTV and 2,300 exhibits since the near-fatal poisoning of ex-KGB spy Skripal, 66, and Yulia, 33, in Salisbury in March.
Among the clips was grainy CCTV of a man and a blonde woman with a red handbag captured on CCTV 20 minutes before the attempted hit.
The CCTV showed the young woman walking beside an older man not far from the bench where the stricken pair were discovered.
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Government scientists found that the Novichok used in the attack was manufactured in Russia - leading the PM to boot out 23 Kremlin diplomats in an effort to “dismantle the Russian espionage network in the UK”.
As The Sun revealed, the Met believe the Skripals were victims of a bungled hit ordered by the Kremlin and carried out by two assassins who fled the UK the next day.
They are thought to be safely back in Russia under the protection of Vladimir Putin.
The suspects were identified through CCTV footage captured shortly after the attempted assassination and their flight records.
But certain security sources think it is pointless to identify the suspected hitmen as Putin will never allow them to be sent to Britain.
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Scotland Yard was able to identify the two suspects in the polonium-210 murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.
His death-bed account and a radiation trail led to Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, but Russia refused to send them to stand trial here.
The Skripals were saved thanks to the expert work of British doctors - with Yulia making a full recovery just weeks later.
She vowed to return to Russia, but her ex-spook dad is still receiving treatment for the “extremely painful” ordeal.
The same deadly nerve agent was also responsible for the killing of mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess in nearby Amesbury, in June.
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The OPCW report confirms the UK's findings that military-grade nerve agent novichock was used in the Salisbury attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) said its team had confirmed the findings following an independent review, which concluded in July, that the substance used was Novichok.
The Prime Minister said today: "There is no evidence to suggest that Dawn and Charlie may have been deliberately targeted, but rather were victims of the reckless disposal of this agent."
Ms Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley fell ill at his home in Amesbury on June 30.
She died in hospital eight days later having never regained consciousness.
Welcoming the report, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt again levelled the blame for the attacks at Russia.
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He said: “The recklessness of the Russian state in bringing a nerve agent into the UK, and total disregard for the safety of the public, is appalling and irresponsible.
"Our thoughts are with the family of Dawn Sturgess and with Charlie Rowley.”
TIMELINE OF EVENTS: How Novichok spread through Salisbury
Saturday, 3 March
- Around 2.40pm, Yulia arrives at Heathrow Airport on a flight from Russia.
Sunday, 4 March
- Sergei's car is seen in the area of London Road, Churchill Way North and Wilton Road about 9.15am
- About 1.30pm, Sergei's car is seen being driven down Devizes Road, towards the town centre.
- Ten minutes later, Sergei and Yulia arrive in Sainsbury's upper level car park at the Maltings. At some time after this, they go to the Bishops Mill Pub in the town centre.
- They dine at Zizzi Restaurant about 2.40pm.
- They leave Zizzi Restaurant about an hour later.
- Emergency services receive a report from a member of the public at 4.15pm and police arrive at the scene within minutes, where they find Sergei and Yulia extremely ill on a park bench near the restaurant.
Friday, June 29
- At around 12.20pm Charlie Rowley and Dawn Strugess are together at John Baker House in Salisbury.
- They then leave that venue and visit a number of shops in Salisbury before going to Queen Elizabeth Gardens.
- They return to John Baker House at around 4.20pm before catching a bus to Amesbury at approximately 10.30pm.
- The couple are then believed to have spent the night at an address on Muggleton Road, Amesbury.
Saturday, June 30
- At 10.15am, the South West Ambulance Service are called to an address on Muggleton Road, where Sturgess had been taken ill, and she was subsequently taken to hospital. Rowley was also present at the address at this time.
- At around midday, Rowley visits Boots the chemist on Stonehenge Walk in Amesbury and then returns to his address in Muggleton Road around half an hour later.
- At around 1.45pm Rowley visits the Amesbury Baptist Centre on Butterfield Drive and again returns home at around 3pm.
- At 6.20pm the South West Ambulance Service are called back to the address on Muggleton Road and Rowley is also taken to hospital.
Sunday July 8
- Police confirm Dawn has passed away, sparking a murder probe
Friday, July 13
- Cops reveal they found a bottle of Novichok inside the home of Salisbury victim Charlie Rowley
July 18
- Specialist officers search Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury, a park at the centre of the poisoning probe.
July 19
- Police are believed to have identified the suspected perpetrators of the Skripal attack.
- An inquest opens into the death of Ms Sturgess. Her body is formally released to her family for her funeral.
July 20
- Mr Rowley is discharged from Salisbury District Hospital after almost three weeks of treatment.
July 30
- The funeral of Ms Sturgess is held at Salisbury Crematorium.
August 8
- The US announces it will impose new sanctions on Russia in response to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, issuing a a formal determination that Russia violated international law by poisoning the Skripals.
- The British Government welcomes the action, saying that it sends "an unequivocal message to Russia that its provocative, reckless behaviour will not go unchallenged".
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