Russia laughs off Novichok scandal by mocking Theresa May’s dancing as Kremlin ludicrously claims it knows nothing about Salisbury ‘assassins’

RUSSIA laughed off the Salisbury poisoning storm by mocking Theresa May's dancing in a Twitter video.

The official Twitter account of the Russian foreign ministry tweeted a split-screen video showing the British PM's robot dance set against a blonde woman dancing traditional Russian moves.

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Accompanying the video was the message: "Choose your dance style in international relationship."

The barb comes hours after police named two Russian "agents" as suspects in the Skripal poisoning.

Russia has denied any involvement in the Novichok scandal.

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov have been linked to the botched nerve agent hit on former Soviet double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

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The Skripals were struck down in March after coming into contact with the deadly chemical — allegedly smuggled to the UK in a perfume bottle and smeared on their door handle.

Theresa May today told a stunned Parliament that intelligence indicated the two prime suspects are officers of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said his government had no hand in the attack carried out in Salisbury, Wilts.

Ahead of a fuller statement expected later, he added that Russia has no new information about the attack because Britain has refused to share case files.

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 Ruslan 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 said intelligence suggests the two prime suspects are Russian GRU agents

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And the Russian Foreign Ministry said claims by British police to have found the two attackers "requires scrupulous analysis".

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says the names of the men and their photos "say nothing to us."

Zakharova called on Britain to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies on the investigation.

She also criticised London for turning down Moscow's request to see the case files.

President Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov mirrored her statement by telling reporters the men's names "do not mean anything to me" — but noted British authorities think the names are aliases.

And Russia's envoy to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also denied Moscow involvement.

But a senior Russian MP vowed that any "assassins" will be punished if the UK hands over evidence.

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The suspects were caught on CCTV in Salisbury at 11.58am on the Sunday 4 March “moments before the attack”, London's Metropolitan Police said.

It is understood Petrov and Boshirov stayed in the City Stay Hotel in East London during their time in the UK.

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 added that the Novichok was brought into Britain in a Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume bottle with a specially made poison applicator.

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In a bombshell statement prosecutors at 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."

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".

The Prime Minister's speech to the House of Commons will deepen the diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

She 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."

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.

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.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the two suspects are aged around 40 and it is likely they were travelling under aliases.

Prosecutors will not be applying to Russia for the extradition of the two men, but a European Arrest Warrant has been obtained.

Mr Basu 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.

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Mr Basu said: "We have no evidence that they re-entered the UK after that date."

The announcement today relates to the first incident — but Mr Basu confirmed that officers have now linked the attack on the Skripals to events in Amesbury less than 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.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed on Tuesday that Rowley and Sturgess were also exposed to Novichok.

Britain and dozens of other countries have kicked out scores of Russian diplomats over the incident, and Moscow has responded tit-for-tat with an identical number of expulsions.

The affair has worsened Russian relations with the West, which were already under strain over Ukraine, Syria and other issues.