Alexander Petrov, one of the two men charged by U.K. authorities for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain, has been revealed to be Russian military doctor Alexander Mishkin. The report comes from British journalism group Bellingcat, and the proper identification links the accused murderer to Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU.
British authorities in September charged Mishkin (under the Petrov alias) and Ruslan Boshirov with the killing of the defected spy. Mishkin is 39 years old, and hails from the northwestern Russian village of Loyga. Mishkin studied at one of the top military medical schools in Russia, and according to the report, trained to be a doctor for Russia’s navy.
The Kremlin has previously denied any connection to the poisoning. On Tuesday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov gave no further comment on Mishkin’s revealed identity.
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