Russia Counters New Report on Suspected Poisoning

By Brandon Duran

The Russian government and media have worked to counter a new report about the Salisbury nerve-agent attack produced by investigative website Bellingcat and its Russian partner, the Insider. The report releases the alleged true identity of a Russian man who Britain has accused of executing the nerve-agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England in early March 2018.

British Prime Minister Theresa May reported to Parliament back in September that the two Russian nationals charged as suspects were identified as officers from Russia’s military intelligence, per the Guardian. Novichok, the poisoning agent, was identified as a military grade nerve agent produced exclusively by Russia. It originates with the Soviets back in the 1970s and can cause suffocation and heart failure.

Bellingcat’s report establishes that poisoning suspect Ruslan Boshirov is actually Anatoliy Chepiga, a colonel in the Russian military. According to the report, Chepiga is a highly decorated officer of the Russian Military Intelligence who received Russia’s highest state award, Hero of the Russian Federation.

Through this investigation, Bellingcat concluded that the two suspects involved in the poisoning were Russian officers operating on a clandestine government mission.

Even with widespread Western allegations against Moscow, President Vladimir Putin has forcefully denied such accusations, claiming that both men are private civilians. The Russian leader called the claims nonsense and mocked them.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is.” Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, suggested in a September Facebook post that “there is no evidence” that the Russian government was behind the attack.

Frants Klintsevich, a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament, labeled the accusations a “typical conspiracy” when talking to state-run RIA Novosti.

Aleksandr Mikhailov, in an interview with Russia’s National News Service, called the Bellingcat investigation “nonsense,” suggesting that British media will “spin tall tales.”

Bellingcat’s report undermines Russia’s response as it questions the lack of a basis for Anatoliy Chepiga’s honoring with an award from Putin. Most recipients have detailed descriptions of their acts, but Chepiga’s includes only a brief statement: “By decree from the Russian president.”

With more and more evidence pointing to the Russian government, tensions between the Kremlin and Britain are high. Back in April, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told his British colleagues that they are “playing with fire and [will] be sorry,” according to Reuters.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently warned that Russia would pay a high price if it didn’t abide to international rules, per the Guardian. The two countries are currently at a deadlock regarding the attack.