LONDON: British police on Thursday released more video footage of the two suspects they believe poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in March.
Two men — known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov — were charged in absentia for the attack in September.
Investigative website Bellingcat has named them as Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, both of whom work for Russia’s GRU intelligence services.
Police realized video footage of two men arriving and moving around Salisbury on Sunday March 4, the day the Skripals were found slumped in the center of the English city.
A man and a woman were poisoned in the nearby town of Amesbury on June 30 after police believe they handled a perfume bottle that contained Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union used in the Skripal poisoning. The woman, Dawn Sturgess, died.
Police said they were appealing for more information from anybody who may have seen the two men in Britain between 2-4 March or had seen the counterfeit ‘Nina Ricci’ perfume box or bottle.
British police release video of Skripal poisoning suspects
British police release video of Skripal poisoning suspects
- Investigative website Bellingcat has named them as Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, both of whom work for Russia’s GRU intelligence services
Uganda to shut down Internet ahead of Thursday election: communication authority
- There was no statement from the government on the shutdown
- The officials said the authorities did not want to “own” the decision
KAMPALA: Uganda ordered an Internet blackout on Tuesday, two days ahead of elections in which President Yoweri Museveni is seeking to extend his 40-year rule.
“This measure is necessary to mitigate the rapid spread of online misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks, as well as preventing of incitement to violence that could affect public confidence and national security during the election period,” the Uganda Communications Commission said in a letter to Internet providers, verified by government officials to AFP.
There was no statement from the government on the shutdown. The officials said the authorities did not want to “own” the decision.
Uganda shut down the Internet during the last election in 2021 — a vote that was marred by widespread allegations of rigging and state violence against the opposition, led by singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who is running again for the presidency.
The government repeatedly promised that the Internet would not be shut down during the election, stating in a post on X on January 5 that “claims suggesting otherwise are false, misleading, and intended to cause unnecessary fear and tension among the public.”
The suspension was due to take effect at 6:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and remain in force “until a restoration notice is issued,” the UCC said.
Essential state services were to be exempted from the ban, it added.
