UK names Russian nationals as Salisbury attack suspects

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

British prosecutors on Wednesday named two Russian nationals as the suspects of the Salisbury nerve-agent attack that targeted former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal earlier this year.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are wanted for conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal and the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and police officer Nick Bailey.

The CPS Counter Terrorism Division “have considered the evidence and have concluded there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and it is clearly in the public interest to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who are Russian nationals,” said Sue Hemming, CPS director of legal services, in a statement.

The offences by Petrov and Ruslan included “use and possession of Novichok contrary to Chemical Weapons Act” and “causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.”

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter were admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious on March 4 in Salisbury. They were both since discharged from the Salisbury District Hospital.

In another incident, British authorities say involved the same nerve-agent in Amesbury, a woman died and a man fell seriously ill.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, fell ill on June 30 after handling an item contaminated with the nerve agent and was taken to hospital and her partner, Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed to the nerve agent and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

The Metropolitan Police continue a murder investigation into the death of Sturgess.

‘Sickening and despicable act’

Describing the nerve-agent attack as a “sickening and despicable act”, Prime Minister Theresa May said the police now formally linked the incidents in Salibury and Amesbury.

She told the lawmakers that police investigation showed the suspects disguised the lethal nerve-agent in a modified perfume bottle to smuggle it into the U.K.

She said the "two individuals named by the police and the CPS are the officers from Russian military intelligence service, also known as GRU".

May said, if the two Russian suspects ever leave Russia, the U.K. will try to have them arrested, adding that international arrest warrants have been issued.

She said the actions of the GRU are “a threat to all our allies and all our citizens” and “we must step up our collective efforts against it.”

May said the U.K. is sharing intelligence with allies about the findings in the investigation.

Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Neil Basu said it is likely the suspects were travelling under aliases and Petrov and Boshirov are not their real names

Basu said the suspects arrived in London’s Gatwick Airport from Moscow two days before the suspected attack and then travelled to Salisbury and left London for the Russian capital shortly after poisoning the Skripal’s front door with Novichok nerve-agent.

Also sharing CCTV images from the investigation, Basu said the suspects are believed to be aged around 40.

Sergei Skripal was granted refuge in the U.K. following a 2010 spy exchange between the U.S. and Russia. Before the exchange, he had been serving a 13-year prison term for leaking information to the British intelligence.

Russia missed a deadline set by London to explain how a certain type of military-grade nerve agent was used in the attack.

The incident has drawn comparisons to the 2006 death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko after drinking radioactive tea. Former KGB bodyguards identified as suspects in the murder denied any involvement.

A world-wide expulsion of 121 Russian diplomats followed the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the U.K.

NATO and the EU have supported the U.K. and condemned the attack.