An interview on Russian television with suspects in the Salisbury poisonings was “shocking” and “welcome”, a senior police officer has said.
Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov denied being the culprits and said they were tourists who wanted to visit Salisbury Cathedral, during the interview on RT in September 2018.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, was asked on Wednesday by the lead counsel to the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry if the interview “came as something of a surprise”.
It was quite a shocking thing to see actually, and unexpected, but equally for various reasons quite welcome for them to go on TV like that
Mr Murphy replied: “Surprise is probably quite an understatement.
“It was quite a shocking thing to see actually, and unexpected, but equally for various reasons quite welcome for them to go on TV like that.”
He added: “To firstly strongly indicate it was them in those photographs is helpful, because clearly it demonstrates that the photos we have of them are the same.
“So unexpected and surprising in that respect to see them do that.”
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and former police officer Nick Bailey were poisoned by Novichok in the Wiltshire city in March 2018.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died on July 8 2018 after she was exposed to the nerve agent, which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in nearby Amesbury, Wiltshire.
Mr Murphy said the account Petrov and Boshirov gave of their time in the UK “was very different from the movements we actually saw” and “not at all” consistent with those of a tourist in Salisbury.
He added that the men had suggested they could not use public transport because of wintry conditions, “which of course they did, for their journey down and their return journey”.
The officer said that from the start of the investigation there had been a “publicly delivered narrative by senior members of the political system in Russia” seeking “to distance themselves from any involvement in what was happening”.
He added: “At one point even suggesting that in fact this was something that had been conducted by the UK in order to be able to suggest that it was Russia, and blame them for something that we had done ourselves as part of a bizarre intelligence operation.”
Mr Murphy said Boshirov’s real identity was believed to be Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga.
He added that this was based on visa applications and financial documents, open source information from the website of a Russian military school, and images from a wedding showing a likeness between Boshirov and Chepiga.
The officer said an image of Chepiga bearing “a strong resemblance to Boshirov” was pictured on a “wall of heroes” at a military school in the town of Blagoveshchensk, in the far east of Russia.
Discussing the award, Mr Murphy said: “I understand it’s appointed by the president of Russia and is one of Russia’s highest awards for its citizens, particularly in the military.”
He added that there was evidence to suggest the school may have been local to where Boshirov grew up.
Mr Murphy said Boshirov was also believed to have been identified in photos from the wedding of the daughter of Russian military intelligence (GRU) leader Andrei Averyanov, at a lake near a military base in July 2017.
He told the inquiry that the seating plan of the wedding included the name “Aleksei Chepiga”, adding it was likely a “shortened name” or “nickname”.
Mr Murphy said: “Importantly, whilst the individual that appears to be Boshirov is at the wedding, the Boshirov name does not feature in the table plan.”
Mr Murphy said Boshirov and Petrov had replicated details, including account numbers and bank balances, on separate visa applications.
The officer said Petrov’s real identity was believed to be Alexander Mishkin, who worked as a doctor for the GRU.
The inquiry was shown images of passports in the name of Petrov and Mishkin which both had the same date of birth, July 13 1979, and the same place of birth, Arkhangelsk.
Discussing GRU unit 29155, of which Petrov and Boshirov are believed to be members, Mr Murphy said it was “frequently reported to have been involved in operations across the world”.
He added: “Either destabilising operations and in some cases widely reported other poisonings or attacks, or other covert information activity on behalf of the Russian government.”
Mr Murphy said reporting by the investigative group Bellingcat “helped us to understand who Chepiga really was”.
The inquiry continues.
