Russian President Putin Accepts Knowing Novichok Skripal Attack Suspects

The poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK has drawn criticism, as all fingers were pointed towards Russia. Now months after, when UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has identified the two suspects, who were behind the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he knows them and they are not criminals as no evidence is found of their criminal activities

UK's Crown Prosecution Service has named Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov as the prime suspect behind the poisoning. During a summit at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the eastern city of Russia, Putin said, “We, of course, looked at what kind of people they are, and we know who they are, we found them. There is nothing unusual or criminal there, I assure you”. Putin also suggested them to come out with their part of the story to the media, most of the time describing them as civilians.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench on March 4, in the southern English city of Salisbury. The British investigative teams have been searching for evidence and while combing through some CCTV footage in the following months, the two Russian nationals were seen arriving at London Gatwick Airport on March 2 and are also being spotted together in Salisbury on March 3 and 4 also on the day of the attack.

According to CCTV footage, the UK Police says that both suspects were also seen near Skripal’s home on March 4, the day of the attack. The men then went to spread the Novichok nerve agent on the handle of the door of the house, though these moments are not captured on the CCTV footage.

Also, their last images were derived from the London Heathrow Airport, where they are seen getting into a commercial flight in the evening of March 4.

After the incident, Skripals spent weeks in the hospital and are now discharged and safe. Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May has said that the two suspects are officers of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU. In a statement to the House of Commons, she said, “The GRU is a highly disciplined organization 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 United Kingdom has said that it has sufficient evidence to prove that the men are behind the attack, though Russia denies its ignorance over the issue. The UK will not seek the extradition of the suspects but will apply for a European arrest warrant of the two suspects.