Suspects in Skripal Poisoning Civilians, not Criminals: Vladimir Putin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that the two suspects in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are “civilians, not criminals”. Putin said that his government had found the pair and he hoped they would appear soon and tell their story. “We know who they are, we have found them,” he told the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok city. “I hope they will turn up themselves and tell everything. This would be best for everyone. There is nothing special there, nothing criminal, I assure you. We’ll see in the near future,” he was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Skripal, 66, and Yulia, 33, were poisoned in the UK in March. The incident caused tensions between Russia and the UK, as London and its allies accused Moscow of orchestrating the attack, which it refutes. The UK government named the two as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov and said they were from Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, according to the BBC. Scotland Yard and the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have said there was enough evidence to charge the men, who were understood to have travelled to London from Moscow on March 2 on Russian passports. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid warned that the men will be caught and prosecuted if they ever step out of Russia. The CPS has not applied to Russia for the extradition of the two men, as Russia does not extradite its own nationals. But a European arrest warrant has been obtained in case they travel to the EU, the BBC said. (IANS)