'NOVICHOK DEN'
Inside the £75-a-night room in the London budget hotel where Russian spies hid Novichok before Salisbury hit
THIS is the dingy two-star hotel room where the Salisbury assassins slept the night before their Novichok hit.
Cops were on Wednesday guarding the City Stay Hotel in Bow, East London, but The Sun managed to check in.
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The £75-a-night room where Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov spent two nights in March has a single and double bed. The 16-inch TV boasts 300-plus channels, including Kremlin propaganda news channel RT.
It also has a loo, unlike some rooms there with shared bathrooms.
Experts say it is safe and nobody has fallen ill since the pair left.
The hotel — close to the DLR and the Tube — has a string of poor reviews on Trip Advisor.
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Ian T wrote: “Desperately depressing.” Thadius posted: “Dingy dank derelict.”
A hotel spokesman said: “There is no health risk to our guests or our staff.”
The pair, who are Russian military intelligence officers, had travelled to the capital on March 2 and spent two nights at the hotel.
Cops revealed today they discovered Novichok in their hotel room on May 4 - almost two months after the hit on the Russian ex-spy.
City Stay Hotel is described as a "no-frills budget hotel" with "simple, modern rooms".
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There is also a lounge area for guests to ";relax in" - boasting leather sofas - as well as self-catering facilities.
Police have not released details of the room the assassins stayed in before the attack, but have urged guests who were at the hotel between March 4 and May 4 to contact them.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, National Lead for Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "Tests were carried out in the hotel room where the suspects had stayed.
"Two swabs showed contamination of Novichok at levels below that which would cause concern for public health."
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He continued: "In terms of those who stayed in the room between 4 March and 4 May; to-date, we have had no reports of any persons falling ill.
"We are asking anyone who stayed at the hotel between 4 March and 4 May to call 0800 789 321 or email [email protected]. Staff from PHE will be on hand to give advice and reassurance."
The Skripals were both discovered slumped on park bench on March 4 in Salisbury after the nerve agent was smeared on Sergei's front door.
Both have made a miraculous recovery, with Yulia now making a vow to return to Russia while her dad is still receiving treatment.
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The same deadly nerve agent was also said to be responsible for the killing of mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess in nearby Amesbury, in June.
Her boyfriend Charlie Rowley picked up the fake Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume used to poison the Skripals on March 4.
Petrov and Boshirov had disguised the nerve agent in the bottle, which had a specially made poison applicator.
Prime Minister Theresa May reveals that Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are members of the GRU and are wanted in conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire
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