Politics: Putin's 'tourist' accused of nerve agent attack turns out to be a highly decorated Russian intelligence officer

Ruslan Boshirov, one of the men accused of poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in March, was identified by

The UK accused two Russian men of poisoning a former Russian spy in England earlier this year. One of the suspects, known as "Ruslan Boshirov," has now been identified as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a high-ranking intelligence official in Russia. This destroy's Moscow's claim that they were civilians.

  • The UK accused two Russian men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshriov, of poisoning a former Russian spy in England earlier this year.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the two men were civilians. Petrov and Boshirov also claimed they visited the UK as tourists.
  • But investigative site Bellingcat on Wednesday identified one of the suspects as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a high-ranking intelligence official in Russia.
  • Bellingcat's findings destroy Moscow's claims that the suspects are civilians, and bolster the UK's claim that they acted on the orders of the Russian government.
  • Russia's Foreign Ministry called the latest findings "a new portion of fake news."

One of the men accused of poisoning a former Russian spy in England has been identified as a high-ranking of Russia's intelligence service.

The UK in early September accused two Russian men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, of attempting to assassinate Sergei Skripal with military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury earlier this year. Prime Minister Theresa May said the names were likely aliases.

Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose government has long denied knowledge of the attack — initially claimed that the two suspects' names "mean nothing to us," and then that the two men were civilians.

Petrov and Boshirov also appeared on Russian TV to say that they were visiting Salisbury as tourists.

But according to the investigative site Bellingcat, Boshirov is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a highly-decorated officer with the GRU, Russia's intelligence service.

Chepiga was assigned the alter ego "Ruslan Boshirov" in 2010, Bellingcat said. This was the name used in his passport when he traveled to the UK earlier this year.

Bellingcat said in a Wednesday post that it confirmed Chepiga's identity after speaking to multiple unnamed sources familiar to Chepiga and the investigation.

Throughout his career, 39-year-old Chepiga had been given multiple rewards for his services, including the title of Hero of the Russian Federation — the highest award in the state, typically handed out to a handful of people in a secret ceremony by the president himself, according to the BBC.

The award was confirmed by Chepiga's military school, the Far Eastern Higher Military Command School.

This suggests that Putin was aware of Chepiga's identity — which destroys his claim that he didn't know who Boshirov and his partner were.

Bellingcat's findings also cast doubt on Russia's claims that Boshirov and Petrov were civilians, and that the government had no knowledge of the Skripal attack.

The findings are also in line with the British government's claim earlier this month, citing security and intelligence agencies' investigations, that Boshirov and Petrov were officers from Russia's intelligence services.

Prime Minister May also said that authorization for the attack on Skripal and his daughter "almost certainly" came from the senior levels of the Russian government.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, called Bellingcat's findings "a new portion of fake news." The Kremlin has repeatedly denied knowledge of the Skripal attack.

Zakharova said on Facebook, according to a translation by state-run Sputnik news agency: "There is no evidence, so they [the UK] continue the information campaign, the main task of which is to divert attention from the main question: 'What happened in Salisbury?'"

The UK has put out international arrest warrants on the two men, the London Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement to Business Insider. However, Russia does not extradite its own nationals, according to the BBC.

The UK Foreign Office and the London Metropolitan Police declined to comment on Bellingcat's findings.

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