Police have named and charged in absentia two Russian suspects in the novichok attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov flew into Gatwick on an Aeroflot flight on 2 March, two days before the Skripals were poisoned with the nerve agent.
Having landed at Gatwick, police believe the men took the train to Victoria, arriving at about 5:40pm, before travelling to Waterloo. They then went to the City Stay hotel in Bow Road, east London, where they stayed on the Friday and the Saturday night.
On Saturday 3 March, they took the underground to Waterloo, arriving at approximately 11.45am. From there, they got on a train to Salisbury, arriving in the city in the early afternoon. Police believe this trip was for reconnaissance of the Salisbury area, and they came back to London that evening.
On the Sunday morning, they made the same journey back to Salisbury, travelling from Bow to Waterloo station at about 8:05am. The suspects were captured on CCTV near Sergei Skripal’s house, where it is believed they contaminated the front door with novichok. They came back to London, arriving in Waterloo at 4.45pm, and from there left the UK via Heathrow airport.
Three months after the attack on the Skripals, Salisbury couple Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were also struck down by novichok poisoning in their home in Amesbury, Wiltshire. Both victims were treated in hospital, but Sturgess, a mother of three, died just over a week later. The suspects have not been charged with the second poisoning that killed Sturgess and left Rowley seriously ill.
Rowley told police he found a Nina Ricci perfume box in a charity bin on Wednesday 27 June. He got some of the bottle’s contents on himself when he tried to put the applicator and bottle together at home. Rowley says Dawn Sturgess put some of the substance from the perfume bottle on her wrists before she fell ill. Tests show this bottle contained novichok. Police believe the box, bottle and nozzle are counterfeit and were especially adapted.
