Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A day after two Russians were charged in the case, the Kremlin on Thursday denied having anything to do with the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

British prosecutors charged the pair with attempted murder and use of novichok, a banned Soviet-era nerve agent.

Officials said the suspects, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, fled Britain and returned to Russia, but could be arrested if they enter any European Union country. Russia will not extradite its own nationals.

The United States, France, Germany and Canada sided with their British allies, saying the Russian government "almost certainly" approved Skripal's poisoning.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said it was "not a rogue operation" and "almost certainly" approved by senior Russian leadership.

The countries released a joint statement that said, "We the leaders of France, Germany, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, reiterate our outrage at the use of a chemical nerve agent, known as novichok, in Salisbury on March 4."

Novichok is banned by the Chemical Weapons Act.

The statement went on to say they believe Petrov and Boshirov are Russian intelligence officers working for the GRU.

"We again say that neither the upper leadership, nor the leadership a rank lower or any official representatives had or have anything to do with the events in Salisbury," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call. "Any suggestions of this kind or accusations, I repeat, are unacceptable." </s> Police in the United Kingdom have ruled out the possibility that two people who fell ill after eating at a restaurant in Salisbury had been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

Wiltshire police declared a "major incident" on Sunday evening after it came to light that a man and woman had become unwell at a Prezzo restaurant, six months after a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Julia became the victims of Novichok poisoning in the same city.

"Due to recent events in the city and concerns that the pair had been exposed to an unknown substance, a highly precautionary approach was taken by all emergency services," police said in a statement.

"We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that Novichok is the substance," added the statement.

The pair were taken to Salisbury District Hospital, police said.

Police said it was "not yet clear" if a crime had been committed and that inquiries remained ongoing.

Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in March with Novichok, a nerve agent fabricated in Russia, and have since recovered after spending weeks hospitalized.

Weeks later in the nearby town of Amesbury, a British woman called Dawn Sturgess died having become ill after handling a bottle of perfume that contained Novichok.

Her partner, Charlie Rowley, also became ill but managed to make a recovery.

The UK has said Russia is behind the Novichok attack on the Skripals and accused two Russian citizens identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov of poisoning the ex-spy and his daughter. </s> A couple poisoned in Amesbury were exposed to Novichok - the same substance that almost killed a Russian spy and his daughter.

Charlie Rowley, 45, and 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess were named by friends as the pair who fell critically ill after being exposed to the never agent.

In a press conference this evening, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu confirmed the substance was Novichok.

He said there is no intelligence to say the pair were "targeted" in any way.

Mr Basu said it was "a line of inquiry" over whether the latest poisoning was linked to that of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.

Charlie and Dawn were found unconscious at a property on Saturday, with one friend describing how Charlie was "garbling" and acting like a "zombie".

The couple's flat is around eight miles from where Russian Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with Novichok in March this year.

Today, a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee took place at official level in the Cabinet Office to discuss the events.

It was understood samples of the substance were sent to the Government chemical weapons research laboratory at Porton Down.

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In a press statement this evening, Mr Basu said: "Earlier today, Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, from Wiltshire Police gave an update on the situation. However, I can confirm tonight that there has been a significant development and that the Counter Terrorism Policing Network is now leading the investigation into this incident.

"This evening we have received test results from Porton Down that show the two people have been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

"At approximately 10:15hrs on Saturday, 30 June, the South West Ambulance Service was called to a residential address in Amesbury, where a 44-year-old woman had collapsed. She was subsequently taken to hospital.

"At around 15:30hrs that day, the ambulance service was called back to the same address, where a 45-year-old man had also fallen ill. The man was taken to hospital and Wiltshire Police were informed. </s> The Latest: UK's May: poisoning suspects were Russian agents

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain (all times local):

British Prime Minister Theresa May says the two prime suspects in the nerve-agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are agents of Russia's military intelligence agency.

May says U.K. intelligence services have concluded that the men, Alexander Petrov and Rusdan Boshirov, work for the GRU agency.

British prosecutors have charged the two men with the attack on the Skripals, but acknowledge that Russia will not extradite them. They say the names are probably aliases.

Police say they came to Britain two days before the March 4 attack on the Skripals in the city of Salisbury, and that traces of the Novichok nerve agent were found in their London hotel room.

Russia denies involvement, but May said Moscow was spreading "obfuscation and lies"

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman says Moscow has no knowledge of the suspects named in the poisoning of a former Russian agent in Britain.

British prosecutors on Wednesday charged two Russian men with the nerve agent poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this year. Police say the men flew from Moscow to London two days before the Skripals were poisoned on Russian passports but that it believes that the names were aliases.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says the names of the men and their photos "say nothing to us." Zakharova called on Britain to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies on the investigation. She has criticized London for turning down Moscow's request to see the case files.

The Kremlin is denying that it played a role in the poisoning of a former Russian spy in a British city, saying that Britain is not sharing any intelligence with it.

British prosecutors on Wednesday charged two Russian men with the nerve agent poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this year. The prosecutors said that the U.K. is not asking Moscow to extradite the men because Russian law forbids extradition of the country's citizens.

Police say the men, both about 40, flew from Moscow to London two days before the Skripals were poisoned on March 4.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday denied any Russian role in the poisoning, saying that Russia has no new information about it because Britain has refused to share case files.

Police say they believe the nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and applied to the front door of Skripal's house.

More than three months later, the bottle was found by a local man, Charlie Rowley. He was hospitalized and his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess died after being exposed to the contents.

Police are still trying to determine where the bottle was between the Skripal poisoning in March and its discovery by Rowley on June 27.

As a result, he said, police are not yet ready to bring charges in the second poisoning.

Assistant police commissioner Neil Basu would not say whether police believe the suspects worked for Russian security services but, he said, "This was a sophisticated attack across borders."

British prosecutors have charged two Russian men with the nerve agent poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury.

The Crown Prosecution Service says Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are charged in absentia with conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and use of the nerve agent Novichok.

Prosecutor Sue Hemming said Wednesday that the U.K. is not asking Moscow to extradite the men because Russian law forbids extradition of the country's citizens.

Police say the men, both about 40, flew from Moscow to London on Russian passports two days before the Skripals were poisoned on March 4. </s> Two Russian nationals have been named as suspects in connection with the Salisbury poisonings in England.

Two Russian nationals have been named as suspects in connection with the Salisbury poisonings in England.

There is sufficient evidence to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with offences including conspiracy to murder over the Novichok attack on ex-Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service have said.

Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said it is likely the suspects were travelling under aliases and Petrov and Boshirov are not their real names. The pair are believed to be aged around 40.

The announcement will deepen the rift between Britain and Russia after the nerve agent attack sparked a wave of diplomatic expulsions by the UK and its allies.

British authorities are understood to believe several Russians were involved in the attempted murders, which also led to 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess becoming an indirect casualty of the poisoning.

A small amount of Novichok is thought to have been used in liquid form to target the Skripals in March.

In July, a source with knowledge of the investigation claimed two suspects had been identified and had left Britain after the attack.

It is understood the suspected perpetrators were identified through CCTV footage that was cross-checked with border entry data.

The UK Government has insisted it is "highly likely" Russia was behind the attack, but Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility.

Ms Sturgess died in July, with authorities believing she and boyfriend Charlie Rowley picked up a discarded vial containing the substance. The pair fell ill on June 30 in Amesbury, near Salisbury. Mr Rowley remains seriously ill in hospital. Police believe it is linked to the poisoning of the Skripals, who were discovered slumped on a bench on March 4 and have since been discharged from hospital.

Independent investigators have confirmed the nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was the same toxic chemical that killed Dawn Sturgess three months later.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) said it had confirmed the UK's findings, which concluded in July the substance used in Amesbury was Novichok.

Ms Sturgess, a mother of three, died eight days later having never regained consciousness. It is believed they were exposed to a military grade nerve agent from a perfume bottle discarded by those responsible for the attack on the Skripals.

The OPCW said: "The results of the analysis by the OPCW-designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that intoxicated two individuals in Amesbury and resulted in one fatality.

"The toxic chemical compound displays the same toxic properties of a nerve agent.

"It is also the same toxic chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the poisoning of Mr Sergei Skripal, Ms Yulia Skripal, and Mr Nicholas Bailey on March 4 in Salisbury."

Six months on from the attack in Salisbury, Russia has reiterated its belief that the UK is flouting international law by apparently keeping the pair from having contact with embassy officials.

A statement released by the Russian Embassy referred to the circumstances of the March attack as "obscure" and accused British authorities of keeping the Skripals in isolation ever since their release from hospital.

It said: "They remain out of the public eye at an unknown location, unable to communicate freely with their relatives, friends, journalists or Russian officials, deprived of the freedom of movement." </s> Britain’s security minister says Russian President Vladimir Putin bears ultimate responsibility for the Novichok nerve agent attack carried out in England.

Ben Wallace told the BBC on Thursday that Putin and his government “controls, funds and directs the military intelligence” unit known as the GRU that Britain believes used Novichok to try to kill ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

READ MORE: Britain charges 2 Russians over nerve agent poisoning on ex-spy

Britain plans to press its case against Russia in the U.N. Security Council Thursday. Many Western countries have already imposed sanctions on Russia because of the attack.

Walls said the GRU is directly linked to Russia’s Defence Ministry, the Kremlin and Putin’s office.

Britain on Wednesday announced charges against two suspected Russian agents in the March 4 attack on the Skripals in the city of Salisbury. </s> The United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday named and charged two Russian men as suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March. Police appealed to the public to share any information on the two men, identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

The Crown Prosecution Service charged the suspects, in absentia, with a conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and use of the nerve agent Novichok.

Prosecutor Sue Hemming said the United Kingdom will not ask Russia to extradite the suspects as Moscow prohibits the extradition of its citizens. “Should this position change, then an extradition request would be made,” Hemming said. “We have, however, obtained a European Arrest Warrant which means that if either man travels to a country where the warrant is valid, they will be arrested and face extradition on these charges for which there is no statute of limitations.”

Hemming said the evidence can be used in court. “It is of course for a jury to decide whether the evidence is enough for them to be sure of the suspects’ guilt,” Hemming said.

Police said the two men flew from Moscow to London on Russian passports two days before the attack on March 4, AP reported. Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu said the men were probably using aliases.

On March 4, Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a park bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury, England. They recovered after weeks of treatment.

The poisoning led to a major diplomatic controversy globally. The UK and its allies, including the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, accused Moscow of involvement in the incident and expelled 23 Russian diplomats from their territory. The US expelled 60 suspected Russian spies after the incident.

Russia has repeatedly denied claims that the nerve agent, Novichok, used to poison the pair was developed in the country or the Soviet Union.

In July, a woman died in Amesbury town in South West England after being exposed to the same nerve agent. Amesbury is about 13 km from Salisbury, the place where Skripal was poisoned.

In August, the United States announced its decision to impose sanctions on Russia for its alleged use of a nerve gas agent. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — GRU isn’t as well-known a baleful acronym as KGB or FSB. But Russia’s military intelligence service is attracting increasing attention as allegations mount of devious and deadly operations on and off the field of battle.

The latest charge came Wednesday, when Britain identified two suspects in this year’s nerve-agent poisonings as GRU agents.

An overview of the GRU:

Formally named the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the agency is almost universally referred to by its former acronym GRU.

It is the most shadowy of Russia’s secret services. When its previous director Igor Sergun died in 2016, the Kremlin announcement was so terse that it gave neither the date, cause or place of death.

The agency has an apparently broad mandate. According to the Defense Ministry website, it is tasked not only with “ensuring conditions conducive to the successful implementation of the Russian Federation’s defense and security policy” but with providing officials intelligence ” that they need to make decisions in the political, economic, defense, scientific, technical and environmental areas.”

Britain claims that two GRU agents carried out this spring’s attack with the nerve agent Novichok on Sergei Skripal, a former GRU officer who became a British double agent, and his daughter. Both survived the poisoning in the city of Salisbury, but three months later two area residents were sickened by the same nerve agent, one of them fatally — it is believed they found the discarded bottle that had carried the Skripals’ poison.

This combination photo made available by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday Sept. 5, 2018, shows Alexander Petrov, left, and Ruslan Boshirov. British prosecutors have charged the two Russian men with the nerve agent poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury. They are charged in absentia with conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and use of the nerve agent Novichok. (Metropolitan Police via AP)

This week’s claim came less than two months after the U.S. indicted 12 alleged GRU agents for hacking into the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic Party and releasing tens of thousands of private communications, part of a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election.

Also this year, the investigative group Bellingcat reported that a GRU officer was in charge of operations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists were fighting Ukrainian forces, in July 2014 when a Malaysian passenger airliner was shot down, killing all 298 people aboard. International investigators say the plane was shot down by a mobile missile launcher brought in from Russia. The GRU officer named by Bellingcat reportedly was responsible for weapons transfers.

Russia’s RBC news service reported this year that the GRU oversees Russian mercenaries in Syria, fighting there as a so-called shadow army.

Russian authorities generally deny allegations against the GRU and refuse to discuss its activities. They said they didn’t recognize the suspects Britain named Wednesday in the Salisbury poisoning.

A general view of the The CityStay hotel, where Russian Nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov stayed before they traveled to Salisbury. (Ryan Hooper/PA via AP)

The GRU is one arm of Russia’s extensive security and intelligence apparatus, which also includes the Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR, and the Federal Security Service, or FSB, which conducts domestic intelligence and counterintelligence. The SVR and FSB were spun off from the KGB after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin ran the FSB before ascending to the presidency.

And as president, Putin names the top brass in the GRU. Of all the agencies, the FSB looms largest in Russians’ minds because it hunts domestic threats. The GRU, created under Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, has a more ruthless reputation, but focuses its energies on foreign threats.

The agencies’ operations appear to both compete and cooperate.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, told The Associated Press that if “the SVR runs into military intelligence, they have to share it with the GRU; that means they try not to run into military intelligence and tell their agents not to report anything military even if they know it. The other way around, military or GRU assets are asked never to report anything political.”

But in the case of the alleged U.S. election-related hacking, he said, “I believe that was an inter-service operation, because it’s not military but they gained some kind of hacking access and then they shared it with the FSB and the SVR.” </s> The second Russian who Britain says was responsible for the poisoning of former double-agent Sergei Skripal was a military doctor for Russia's GRU military intelligence unit, investigative website Bellingcat said on Monday.

LONDON: The second of two Russians who Britain blames for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was named by investigative website Bellingcat on Monday as a military doctor for Russia's GRU intelligence service.

Bellingcat, which covers intelligence matters, named him as Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin, aged 39, who was charged by Britain last month under the name of Alexander Petrov.

Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper also named Mishkin in a separate report published on Monday.

British prosecutors charged Petrov and another man they named as Ruslan Boshirov in absentia with attempted murder for the Novichok nerve agent attack on Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in March, but said they believed the suspects had used aliases to enter Britain.

Bellingcat last month identified Boshirov as a colonel in the GRU whose real name was Anatoliy Chepiga.

British police said they would not comment on speculation about the real identities of the two men facing charges, in response to a query about the latest report.

Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a public bench in Salisbury, and the case prompted the biggest East-West diplomatic expulsions since the Cold War.

A woman later died from Novichok poisoning after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which police believe had been used to smuggle the nerve agent into Britain.

Mishkin was born in July 1979 in the village of Loyga in the Archangelsk district of northern Russia, and until September 2014 his registered home address in Moscow was the same as the headquarters of the GRU, Bellingcat said.

"Bellingcat's identification process included multiple open sources, testimony from people familiar with the person, as well as copies of personally identifying documents, including a scanned copy of his passport," the website said.

Mishkin's GRU rank was unknown, it added, but based on his 15-year service was likely to be lieutenant colonel or colonel.

He was recruited by GRU during his studies at one of Russia's military medical academies, and between 2011 and 2018 he travelled repeatedly under the identity of Alexander Petrov, including to Ukraine and Moldova's breakaway territory of Transdniestria.

Russia denies any involvement in the poisoning, and the two men have said publicly they were tourists who had flown to London for fun and visited Salisbury to see its cathedral.

Russia's embassy in London did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
British authorities charge two men for their alleged involvement in a Novichok poisoning earlier in 2018, claiming the men are agents of the GRU.