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| RT editor-in-chief spoke to UK’s suspects in Skripal case, interview to be aired later today | RT editor-in-chief spoke to UK’s suspects in Skripal case, interview to be aired later today |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| RT’s editor-in-chief said she spoke to the two men London named as suspects in the Skripal case, and the interview is set to be aired soon. Earlier, Putin said they are civilians and “there is nothing criminal about them.” | RT’s editor-in-chief said she spoke to the two men London named as suspects in the Skripal case, and the interview is set to be aired soon. Earlier, Putin said they are civilians and “there is nothing criminal about them.” |
| Last week the men in question were identified by the UK as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. | Last week the men in question were identified by the UK as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. |
| According to RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, while news outlets, including RT, have been scouring social media and other sources to find the two, Petrov and Boshirov reached out to her themselves. | |
| “I did not look for them. Actually our editorial staff looked for them as all other professional media did: through social networks, sources etc. We have even found some people, but the wrong ones. Finally, real Petrov and Boshirov (as far as it can be checked) called me themselves,” Simonyan said. | |
| Simonyan said she had no doubts that the men she spoke with were the same people London had pointed fingers at, since they visually very much resemble the people in the photos released by the UK. | |
| The mystery surrounding the Salisbury “suspects” started right after their pictures hit the front pages of the international media following a police press conference. | The mystery surrounding the Salisbury “suspects” started right after their pictures hit the front pages of the international media following a police press conference. |
| While prosecutors just said that Petrov and Boshirov had Russian passports, they did not elaborate on who the people are. In fact, law enforcement appealed to the public to come forward with any information regarding the two, saying the names were likely not their real one. | While prosecutors just said that Petrov and Boshirov had Russian passports, they did not elaborate on who the people are. In fact, law enforcement appealed to the public to come forward with any information regarding the two, saying the names were likely not their real one. |
| British PM Theresa May, however, later clarified the “mystery,” claiming Boshirov and Petrov were no less than members of Russian military intelligence (GRU). She went further, implying Russia was involved in plotting the attack on ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter at the highest levels. | British PM Theresa May, however, later clarified the “mystery,” claiming Boshirov and Petrov were no less than members of Russian military intelligence (GRU). She went further, implying Russia was involved in plotting the attack on ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter at the highest levels. |
| Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Russian authorities know who the alleged suspects are and called on them to speak to the media. Contrary to the intelligence agents claims, he stressed that the men are actually civilians and there is nothing criminal about them. | |
| The claim has raised a few eyebrows. Analysts told RT that the men either wanted to be noticed on purpose or were just two ridiculously clumsy “agents.” Speaking to RT, Charles Shoebridge, a security expert and former British military officer, stressed that it’s very strange for well-trained Russian intelligence specialists to leave such a “reckless and clear trail of evidence” that would lead the investigation directly to Russia. At the same time, Annie Machon, a former MI5 intelligence officer, said she doubts Moscow’s alleged motive behind the Salisbury incident and noted that the pieces of evidence presented to the public will never be “tested in a real court of law.” | |
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