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A joint investigation by The Bellingcat and The Insider made it possible to establish that Alexander
Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, suspected by Britain of Skripale’s poisoning, are indeed officers of the
Russian special services. This is confirmed by a number of documents, as well as direct and indirect
evidence. Today we are publishing the first part of the investigation.
On the file with passport data there is a “no information to give” stamp:
And the biography file is empty: except for the “not to give out information” stamp, there is only the
signature “S.” (top secret).
It is curious that at the place of residence of Alexander Petrov, another person lived with the surname
Petrov, whose passport details differ.
Strange passports
According to passenger check-in data (the document is available to The Bellingcat and The Insider),
the numbers of Boshirova and Petrov passports differ by only one digit (Boširov’s passport ends in
1294, Petrov’s - 1297). And in the database of the FMS, where the “mere mortals” passports are
indicated, for some reason, Borshirov and Petrov do not have these passports.
By the way, from the registration data it follows that both “tourists” bought tickets one day before the
departure, 1st day (there is no reservation data in the database, which happens when buying a ticket and
registering is done in one session, and this is possible only one day before departure) : it is contrary to
their words that the trip was planned in advance. Whence such a rush, we can assume: a little earlier
that day, tickets to London were bought by Julia Skripal. This is hardly a coincidence: it is possible that
the "tourists" felt that this could somehow affect their plans, and decided to hurry.
No less interesting and Russian passports. Firstly, they were issued by the FMSA 770001 in the city of
Moscow - “mere mortals” do not receive passports there. Passports in this department of the Federal
Migration Service are received either by privileged persons for a bribe (for them it is synonymous with
“criminal” license plates) or by representatives of law enforcement agencies. For example, the former
deputy chairman of Rosneft, Eduard Khudainatov, and media manager Sergey Lisovsky (a member of
the General Council of United Russia), now arrested by the deputy head of the logistics department of
the Interior Ministry in Moscow, Colonel Alexander Emets, ex-chief of the Central Directorate of
Threat Service Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Trubnikov and other
significant persons. There are among the recipients of passports in this FMS and strange persons with a
secret biography who are not present in any social networks: probably the same “tourists” as Petrov and
Boshirov.
It is also interesting that if you change the last digit in the passport of Petrov or Boshirov, then you will
again find people with strange profiles, with incomplete addresses (for example, without an apartment)
- and who are not in any social networks and databases.
The preparation of the material was attended by the journalist of the Center "Dossier" Sergey Kanev
In the first part of the investigation, Bellingcat and The Insider managed to find in the passport data of
Alexander Petrov (one of Skripaley suspected of poisoning) indications of his belonging to special
services, and also to find out that the passports of Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov differ only in
one last digit. In this part, we publish new documentary evidence of the belonging of Petrov and
Boshirov to the GRU, as well as some unexpected information about their previous “tourist” trips.
There is one more interesting trip: on July 11, 2016, Petrov drove to Kazakhstan on a long-distance
bus, and Beijing indicated as much the direction of his trip. There is no stranger way to get to Beijing
and imagine - but, most likely, he was not going to any Beijing, as he was returning to Moscow on July
26 from Tel Aviv. Apparently, the goal of Petrov was some of the countries of Central Asia or the
Middle East, and he wanted to get there not in the most conspicuous way.
Solberetskys, part three. "BOSHIROV" turned out to be "Hero of
Russia", Colonel of the GRU Anatoly Chepiga
[Солберецкие, часть третья. «Бошировым» оказался «Герой России», полковник ГРУ
Анатолий Чепига]
The Insider and Bellingcat succeeded in identifying Ruslan Boshirov, one of two GRU officers accused
of Skripale poisoning. It turned out to be the colonel of the GRU and the Hero of Russia Anatoly
Chepiga.
The “peacekeeping mission” implied, apparently, the invasion of Ukraine (the Russian military
operation in Syria had not yet begun) - and indeed, the Chepiga unit was seen near the border of
Ukraine at the end of 2014. However, it is not yet clear exactly which feats this “Hero of Russia” has
accomplished. One way or another, DOCHOK in golden letters knocked out his name at the monument
to Rokossovsky.
Here is the whole monument:
His alter-ego "Ruslan Boshirov" Chepiga received after moving to Moscow, where he, apparently,
graduated from the Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, called the
"conservatory" in GRAND slang.
How did you discover Chepig
The Insider and Bellingcat searched for Boshirov among graduates of military schools, where GRU
staff are trained for operations abroad and intensively teach a foreign language. One of such schools is
the TWICE. Knowing roughly the age of Boshirov, The Insider and Bellingcat looked at photos of
graduates from 2001–2003. On one of them, made in Chechnya, we managed to find someone remotely
resembling "Boshirov":
Although it is difficult to draw any conclusions from this photo, it has become an additional reason to
continue the search for “Boshirov” among the graduates of the PARTICLES. Further searching was
helped by the site of the school itself, which published a list of its graduates who became “Heroes of
Russia”. One of them — Anatoly Chepiga — could have been “Boshirov” by age and, judging by
information from open sources, served in Chechnya, as did the man in the photo above. His name was
found in one of the databases, where the address of Chepigi in Khabarovsk in 2003–2005 coincided
with the address of the military unit corresponding to the 14th GRU special forces brigade: this also
increased the likelihood that “Boshirov” and Chepig were the same person .
An extract from the Russian Passport system in 2014 confirmed this hypothesis.
In the previous part of the joint investigation, Bellingcat and The Insider reported the real name and
true biography of “Ruslan Boshirov”: they were the colonel of the GRU, the hero of Russia Anatoly
Chepiga. Now we were able to establish the name and biography of the second defendant in the
poisoning of Skripale, hiding under the name "Alexander Petrov".
Petrov turned out to be a military doctor Alexander Mishkin, also an employee of the Main Directorate
of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (previously GRU). From the hands of Vladimir Putin,
Mishkin received the Star of a Hero of Russia (as well as Chepiga for Ukraine). As it turned out, both
Mishkin and Chepiga simultaneously with the Hero's Star received expensive apartments in Moscow
from the state in 2014.
The merits of the young doctor
Alexander Mishkin was born on July 13, 1979 in Loig. Loiga is a small village of a rural type,
forgotten by God, and also by the federal and even regional authorities somewhere in the marshes
between the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. The closest city to Loig is Kotlas (hence, obviously, this
city is in the passport in the name of Petrova). You can get to Loigu on your own - on foot or by car -
only in winter (no one is afraid of snow here, unlike Salisbury). The rest of the time, the only link with
the outside world is the railway. Nominally there are two of them: the high-speed branch of the
“Russian rut” and one of the longest narrow gauge railways in Russia. The latter almost does not work,
because it is plundered.
Instead of sidewalks in Loig - wooden gati, the most popular technique - karakat. According to the
local administration, in September 2018, exactly 1111 people are registered in Loig, a little more than
700 actually live.
One of those living there is Nina Fedorovna Mishkina, who came to Loyga with the first wave of
settlers in the early 1950s and is the universal favorite and part-time grandmother of Alexander. Nina
Fedorovna - doctor, founder of the local first-aid post. Apparently, she was a good doctor - the villagers
in a conversation with The Insider correspondent Yuri Knyazev recalled that she never refused patients,
was gentle with them and knew how to diagnose illnesses. Since the late 90s she is retired, and on
September 25 of this year she turned 90.
“The very first Nina Fyodorovna congratulated her grandson on her birthday,” says a close friend
Mishkina. “She told everyone about it, she is very proud of Sasha.”
Sasha was born and grew up in Loig in the family of the youngest son Nina Feodorovna Eugene and
his wife Tatiana. Together with his sister Olga, who was several years younger than him, the future
GRU officer went to kindergarten and school, and then moved with his family to the nearby village of
Lomovatka, where his father got a job as director of a timber processing plant.
“Yes, this is Sasha,” says one of Nina Fedorovna’s neighbors, after seeing a photo of Alexander Petrov
from the Russian Passport system. - We lived nearby, Sasha always played with my children. After he
went to study and returned to visit his grandmother, he always came to us. He was very attached to his
grandmother, they were like mother and son. ” “This is exactly Sasha,” confirms another acquaintance
of the Mishkin family, having seen the face of Alexander Petrov on the frame from an interview with
RT. - Where did you get this picture? You will not find more information on it, it is classified, ”the
interlocutor of The Insider believes.
It was not possible to talk to Nina Fedorovna herself - she was taken to Lomovatka (possibly, waiting
for the arrival of journalists).
As Nina Fedorovna’s acquaintances believe, the grandson of Sasha continues the glorious medical
tradition of the Mishkin family and serves as a military doctor in Murmansk. Obviously, Sasha
succeeded in his career - a couple of years ago, President Vladimir Putin awarded Sasha with a star of
the Hero of Russia, which everyone in Loig knows about, and some even tell in reverent whispers.
“Nina Fedorovna has a photo in which Putin presents the order to Sasha and shakes his hand. She is
very proud of her, but she doesn’t show everything and never gives in to her hands, ”another close
friend Mishkina shares with The Insider. “Once, when he arrived, I asked what his specialty was. Sasha
said that I do not know such a specialty. I myself am a doctor, but when he called her, I really did not
know and could not even remember. He explained that this is somehow connected with submarines. ”
(Mishkin's specialty is hypobaric medicine, which will be discussed below).
“We are just wondering why Sasha received the title of Hero of Russia, we have military secrets here,
the information is classified,” said one of the residents of the village. “But it seems to be one of two
things: either for the Crimea, or for Yanukovych.”
When The Insider and Bellingcat began to search for Mishkin, all that was known was the data from
the passport file addressed to Alexander Petrov, which, like his last name, could be fake. British media,
however, with reference to its sources reported that the name Alexander was genuine. People from the
Arkhangelsk region also confirmed that the “Petrov” dialect was quite natural for Kotlas (which was
listed in the passport as his hometown). This suggested that some other data from the passport file
could either be true or close to the truth. As was already known from previous investigations (for
example, in the case of Eduard Shishmakov-Shirokov), GRU officers, receiving a passport cover, can
save the real name and date of birth.
Bellingcat has a number of databases in many regions, but the difficulty lies in the fact that
Aleksandrov Evgen'evich, born on July 13, 1979 in Russia, is probably a lot. The Insider and Bellingcat
suggested that the city may be real, indicated in the passport file as the place where the previous
passport was received - St. Petersburg. Alexander Evgenievich, with the date of birth on July 13, 1979,
turned out to be only one in Petersburg - and he was Mishkin.
Mishkin's address in the database was designated as “374 Street” (in this database, he means
Academician Lebedev Street), 12, apartment 30.
The database also had a telephone number, on which it was possible to find seven more people
registered at the same address, from which it followed that it was a communal apartment. Most of the
tenants of this apartment were between the ages of 18 and 24, which seemed logical enough - students
used communal apartments in the 2000s, and right in front of this house is a hostel of the Medical
Academy and the Academy itself is also nearby.
Two residents of this apartment were found in social networks, where they are designated as graduates
of the Medical Academy. Mishkin himself was not found in social networks, but, based on the data, it
seems very likely that he also studied at the Military Medical Academy.
Mishkin showed up in the telephone base, but already as a resident of Moscow:
Search by name and phone issued it in the database on car insurance as the owner of the Volvo XC90.
Separately, looking at the history of the car, I managed to find that it was registered in St. Petersburg in
2012, and then passed into the possession of a person registered in the Khoroshevsky district:
In the more recent database of car insurance, the address of the owner is specified more specifically,
Khoroshevskoe Highway 76, the address of the headquarters of the GRU.
After this discovery, The Insider and Bellingcat began the search described above for acquaintances
with Mishkin at Military Academy, and two graduates confirmed that they were recognizing the person
who studied at Military Medical Academy in the portrait of Petrov.