{"id":146,"date":"2019-04-02T09:53:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T07:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/192.168.10.2\/blog\/?p=146"},"modified":"2024-10-11T09:57:58","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T07:57:58","slug":"cyber-gru-iv-september-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lab52.io\/blog\/cyber-gru-iv-september-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"(Cyber) GRU (IV): September 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Serguei Skripal was a GRU agent who was arrested in 2004. He was \naccused of collaborating with the British MI6 and sentenced for high \ntreason until 2010, when he was exchanged for Russian agents arrested as\n part of the \u2018Operation Illegal\u2019<\/em>. Since then, he had lived in the\n United Kingdom, apparently away from any \u201cannoying\u201d activity linked to \nhis past as a member of the Service. However, in March 2018, he was \nfound unconscious together with his daughter Yulia \u2013 she was visiting \nthe United Kingdom \u2013 in a bank in Salisbury, allegedly the victim of an \nattack with Novichok, a Soviet nerve agent. The United Kingdom blames \nRussia for this attack without much detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June two Britons, a man and a woman, were admitted to \nthe Salisbury District Hospital. An ambulance brought them from \nAmesbury, a few kilometres from where the former GRU agent and his \ndaughter were poisoned. The investigation confirmed that they had also \nbeen poisoned with Novichok, apparently by accident: none of them had \nany previous connection with what happened in March and, possibly, they \nfound by chance the nerve agent in what appeared to be a bottle of \nperfume abandoned in a park. The woman died in early July as a result of\n the effects of the poisoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 5<\/strong>, as we have already indicated, Theresa May \naccused two Russian citizens, GRU members, of the Skripal poisoning \n([1]). It was publicly stated that Alexander PETROV and Ruslan BOSHIROV \n(aliases according to the British police itself) travelled to the United\n Kingdom from Russia. They impregnated a door handle with Novichok, got \nrid of the poison and returned to Moscow. Numerous security camera \ncaptures were provided as evidence. They were accused of conspiracy, \nattempted murder, possession and use of the nerve agent\u2026 but Theresa May\n herself was aware of the difficulty of extraditing these citizens \u2013 \nperhaps because of the experience gained during the Litvinenko case -.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian reaction and denial came swiftly and even RT interviewed \nboth accused. During that interview they identified themselves as fitness teachers<\/em>\n who had gone to Salisbury to enjoy its cathedral, and of course they \ndenied any relationship with GRU. Nevertheless, independent \ninvestigations, in this case the one carried out by Bellingcat, defended\n using graphic material, supposedly contrasted facts and specific data \nthat they were not two innocent teachers called Ruslan and Alexander, \nbut in fact, one of them was Colonel Anatoly CHEPIGA, member of the GRU \nSpecial Forces, and the other was Doctor Alexander YEVGENIYEVICH \nMISHKIN, Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel of the Service. Both of them hold\n the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest rank that can \nbe bestowed in Russia, which is conferred directly by the President of \nthe Russian Federation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Anatoly <\/em>VLADIMIROVICH<\/em> CHEPIGA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Alexander YEVGENIYEVICH MISHKIN<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, these particular accusations \u2013 not confirmed by the \nBritish government \u2013 were refuted by Russia, which tried to discredit \norganisations such as Bellingcat by accusing them of being at the \nservice \u2013 and the salary \u2013 of Mother Russia\u2019s enemies. Whether this \naccusation was true or not, the reality was that physical resemblances \nwere astonishing. Aditionally, Alexander PETROV and Ruslan BOSHIROV were\n never seen together with Anatoly VLADIMIROVICH CHEPIGA and Alexander \nYEVGENIYEVICH MISHKINK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also true that on December 19 2018, the U.S. Treasury \nDepartment issued an official statement([2]) sanctioning several people,\n some of them linked to GRU, including the names of Anatoly \nVLADIMIROVICH CHEPIGA (associated with the Ruslan BOSHIROV identity) and\n Alexander YEVGENIYEVICH MISHKIN (associated with the Alexander PETROV \nidentity)\u2026 an official notification that seemed to confirm Bellingcat\u2019s \ninvestigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n