‘Ringleader’ behind Salisbury murder plot is former Russian paratrooper captain

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Scotland Yard today named a Russian paratrooper captain turned GRU spy as the third man wanted over the Salisbury Novichok attack, as Priti Patel warned Britain will take ‘every possible step’ to extradite the suspects. 

Police said this morning Sergey Fedotov, real name Denis Sergeev, faces a string of charges including trying to kill former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and police officer Nick Bailey.

The Skripals were left fighting for their lives after members of a Russian military intelligence hit squad smeared the deadly weapon on Mr Skripal’s front door. 

The attack seriously injured police officer Nick Bailey and Salisbury resident Charlie Rowley, whose partner, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, later died.

Fedotov is accused of seven charges, including three of attempted murder as well as conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal, causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia and Mr Bailey, and possession and use of a chemical weapon.

These are the same counts faced by two other suspects in the case already identified by police in 2018 – Alexander Mishkin, who used the name Alexander Petrov while in the UK, and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the alias Ruslan Boshirov. 

It comes as footage emerged of Fedotov – the alleged ringleader – describing attacking Chechen rebels while serving as a paratrooper in 1999.   

A recently uncovered video shows the suspect discussing his exploits as a captain serving in the first paratroopers’ company of the 108th air assault regiment. 

The unit – based in Novorossiysk, on Russia‘s Black Sea coast – was involved in fighting in Dagestan in the summer of 1999, and later in Chechnya.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Ms Patel told the Commons today that everything possible was being done to hunt down the trio.

The videos relate to an attempt to recapture Mount Alilen in Dagestan from Chechen fighters. Fedotov was injured during the operation and decorated, Bellingcat revealed.

In two separate clips he described the operation.

In the first, he said: ‘When the ascent began on Mount Alilen, a downpour came down and it lasted about two or three hours. everyone was soaked, feet slipped and so on.’

In the second clip, Sergeev recalled his exploits in more detail. ‘Firstly, helicopters were shot down,’ he said.

‘Second, it (the mountain) was dominant over the entire valley, and the entire gorge, where the villages of Rakhata and Ansalta were located. And when I went up there, (the village) Tando was exclusively in the palm of my hand.

‘It could be shot at calmly. Well, not to mention the fact of all the movements of federal troops at our former base.

‘They were extremely visible and could be fired upon. If we had failed to take this mountain the success of the operation would be dubious.’    

Today, Downing Street has admitted it would be ‘futile’ to seek the Fedotov and his two accomplices’ extradition while they remained in Russia. 

The PM’s spokesman said: ‘We have said before that the use of Novichok nerve agent on British soil was a sickening and despicable act and a clear violation of the chemical weapons convention. The PM’s thoughts remain with those affected by the attack.

‘This wasn’t a rogue operation and only the Russian state had both the technical means, experience and the motive to carry out the attack. 

‘But you will be aware that we don’t have an extradition treaty with Russia and as we have found with other cases such as Litvinenko any formal extradition request is futile.’ 

He then added: ‘But if these individuals should ever travel outside Russia we will do everything we can to detain them, to extradite them and to bring them to justice here in the UK.’  

The Skripals were left fighting for their lives in March 2018 when members of a Russian military intelligence hit squad are believed to have smeared deadly nerve agent Mr Skripal’s door handle in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Mr Bailey was one of the officers investigating the case and also became seriously ill. 

Fedotov is accused of seven charges, including three of attempted murder as well as conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal, causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia and Mr Bailey, and possession and use of a chemical weapon.

These are the same counts faced by two other suspects in the case already identified by police in 2018 – Alexander Mishkin, who used the name Alexander Petrov while in the UK, and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the alias Ruslan Boshirov.

Investigators say they now have evidence linking the three to Russian military intelligence service the GRU, and that the trio have been involved in similar operations in other countries including Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

News website Bellingcat previously reported that Fedotov is suspected of involvement in the poisoning of an arms manufacturer, his son and a factory manager in Bulgaria in 2015, while Boshirov and Petrov are accused of being part of a squad behind an explosion at an arms depot in the Czech Republic the previous year. 

But with no extradition treaty in place, and Moscow denying any knowledge of the incident, UK authorities are powerless to put the suspects before an English court. 

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, who is the senior national co-ordinator for UK counter-terrorism policing, said: ‘The investigation team has been piecing together evidence that suggests that Petrov, Boshirov and Fedotov have all previously worked with each other and on behalf of the Russian state as part of operations carried out outside of Russia.’

They had all visited the UK before 2018, although there is no evidence that this was for reconnaissance purposes, police said.

‘All three of them are dangerous individuals,’ Mr Haydon said. ‘They have tried to murder people here in the UK, and they have also brought an extremely dangerous chemical weapon into the UK by means unknown.

‘The amount of Novichok in that perfume bottle was quite significant and if it had come into the wider circulation of the public, without a doubt it would have killed hundreds if not thousands of people.’ 

Fedotov entered the UK at 11am on March 2 2018, flying from Moscow to Heathrow and arriving about four hours before Petrov and Boshirov landed at Gatwick.

The three met a number of times in the coming days, both out in the open and at indoor venues, but Fedotov did not leave the capital. 

Fedotov – who police are now hunting – is said to have met the other two men on more than one occasion in in the ‘open air’ in central London before the attack.

Unlike the other two, no traces of the nerve agent were found at his hotel and he did not travel to Salisbury, leading to speculation that he could have been the unit’s commander.

He returned to Moscow on a flight from Heathrow on Sunday March 4 at 1.45pm. Petrov and Boshirov flew back from the same airport at 10.30pm that night. 

Mr Haydon told today’s briefing: ‘In addition to identifying Fedotov’s presence in the UK, the investigation team has also been piecing together evidence that suggests all three of them have previously worked with each other, and on behalf of the Russian state, as part of operations carried out, outside of Russia.’

He said the men’s real names were Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga and Fedotov’s real name was Denis Sergeev and that all three were members of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.

It is the first time that police have been able to evidentially link their suspects to the Russian spy agency, said Mr Haydon, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism.

Officers are also liaising with investigators in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic about reports the men had visited there.

Charges have now been authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service against all three for conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and possession of a chemical weapon.  

Images of Fedotov were released to the media showing him on his travel documents and from CCTV taken as he arrived and left the country through Heathrow. 

The poison was contained in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle, tragically found in June that year in a charity shop bin in Amesbury by Charlie Rowley.

He was left seriously ill and his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess died after coming into contact with the deadly substance.

Police have appealed to the public for any information about how the bottle came to be found eight miles from Salisbury, and where it was stored between the departure of the would-be assassins from the UK in March and its discovery three months later. 

‘We want to hear from anyone who might have information relating to the perfume box in the bottle during that period,’ Mr Haydon said. 

Mr Haydon said Fedotov was identified early in the investigation but the team did not have enough information to bring charges.

‘From the outset of the investigation, there were a number of lines of inquiry, a number of individuals that we were investigating.

‘There has been a delay with the third man. We were able to evidence the first two pretty quickly but the third man has taken slightly longer.

‘We have to follow due process, and by that I mean investigation, putting it into evidence, putting it before the Crown Prosecution Service, and then eventually we ended up where we are today.’  

The three men acted as a ‘small team’ and had made previous visits to Britain, Mr Haydon said.

‘In my mind, they’ve operated as a as a small team with a view to deploy Novichok to kill individuals in this country.

‘We have other intelligence that suggests they’ve been here before, but we know that they’ve been in other countries as well, operating as a threesome and likely with others as well.

‘Linking three of them to the GRU evidentially, our interest now is, who else was involved?

‘I feel these questions can be really difficult to put a number, but I can say it remains an active line of inquiry of who exactly was involved.’

There have previously been ‘exchanges’ on diplomatic channels with Russia but Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, and police say they have not had any cooperation from Russia in relation to the investigation.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found on a park bench in Salisbury after they were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, believed to have been smeared on the door handle at Mr Skripal’s home. 

The attack is believed to have been ordered by Russian intelligence in revenge for Skripal’s work as a double agent for MI6 during the 1990s. He was arrested in 2004 and moved to the UK six years later following a spy-swap deal.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey, one of the police officers who responded to the attack was also taken seriously ill following the attack on March 4 2018.

Four months later Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three, died from a dose of the nerve agent after her partner, Charlie Rowley, found a discarded bottle which turned out to contain the nerve agent.

Despite circumstantial evidence, police have still been unable to link the find by Mr Rowley to the original attack and so the three Russian spies, have only been charged with attempting to kill Mr Skripal, his daughter and DC Bailey.

They are accused of conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal, the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and DC Bailey, and causing grievous bodily harm to Yulia Skripal and DC Bailey. 

A fourth charge was brought for the use and possession of Novichok, contrary to the chemical weapons act.

Scotland Yard released images and details of two men who used the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in September 2018.

Soon afterwards, the pair appeared on Russian TV saying they were tourists who had were visiting Salisbury and see its famous 123 metre spire.

At the time, they were identified by the investigative website Bellingcat as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Dr Alexander Mishkin, two members of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.

Petrov and Boshirov have been linked to a huge explosion which tore apart an ammunitions storage depot in a forest in the Czech Republic on October 16 2014. 

The remains of two men, aged 56 and 69, who worked at the site were found more than a month later. 

The blast was assumed to have been an accident but in April this year, the Czech authorities identified a special operations team of the GRU called Unit 29155.

An email sent to Imex Group, the company which operated the depot, claiming to be from the National Guard of Tajikistan asked for two men – Ruslan Tabarov from Tajikistan and Nicolaj Popa, a Moldovan citizen – to be given access to the site for an inspection visit.

Police believe that the three suspects identified so far are in Russia, and with no extradition treaty with the country there is little chance of them being brought to the UK.

Nick Price, CPS head of Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: ‘We will not be applying to Russia for the extradition of Sergey Fedotov as the Russian constitution does not permit extradition of its own nationals. Russia has made this clear following requests for extradition in other cases. Should this position change then an extradition request would be made.’    

Police will apply for an Interpol notice to be issued for Fedotov.

A number of other individuals remain under investigation over possible involvement in the Salisbury case.

No charges have yet been brought over Ms Sturgess’ death, but Mr Haydon said the case remains a live investigation.

A pre-inquest review hearing into her death is due to take place tomorrow.

Wiltshire Police chief constable Kier Pritchard said he welcomed today’s development.

‘I know this announcement by the Counter Terrorism Policing Network today will affect many people – the victims, their families and the communities of Salisbury and Amesbury,’ he said.

‘These shocking incidents had a significant impact on all involved and my thoughts, and those of Wiltshire Police, remain with Sergei and Yulia Skripal, Charlie Rowley, the family of Dawn Sturgess, who tragically died, and former Wiltshire Police Detective Sergeant, Nick Bailey.

‘The Counter Terrorism Policing Network investigation team continues to work tirelessly to seek to bring those responsible to justice and Wiltshire Police will continue to offer our full and ongoing support in this investigation.’   

Philip Wilkinson, police and crime commissioner for Wiltshire, said: ‘My thoughts, and those of my office, remain with Dawn Sturgess’ family and friends, alongside the other victims who have had their lives devastated by this incident.

‘While today’s announcement is important, it is vital we remember a member of our community was killed and others left changed and traumatised by the barbaric use of a nerve agent on UK soil.

‘Our community has rebuilt and those other victims are coming to terms with the long-lasting implications, so my hope now is the perpetrators will have their appalling crimes levelled against them and all of the victims will see justice served in their names.

‘I am democratically elected to hold our police force to account, it would be widely welcomed if some foreign security services demonstrated that same accountability.’ 

Anyone who saw Fedotov while he was in the UK or has information relating to the perfume bottle can call the anti-terrorism hotline on 0800 789321 or email Salisbury2018@met.police.uk.