Hero of Russia Chepiga

Bellingcat and The Insider found out the real name of Ruslan Boshirov

The man who traveled to the UK with a passport in the name of Ruslan Boshirov is a GRU colonel. Bellingcat and The Insider claim to have found out his real name: Hero of Russia Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga.

This is stated in the new, third part of the investigation of journalists. The UK considers men named Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov to be responsible for the poisoning of former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. With passports in these names, according to London, they entered the country. British officials said they knew the real names of these people. Later, Petrov and Boshirov gave an interview to RT, saying that they went there as tourists, and they do not work for the GRU, but "in the fitness industry." In the first two parts of the investigation, The Insider and Bellingcat explained why this is not the case.

To find the real Ruslan Boshirov, journalists pored over graduates of military schools, where GRU officers are trained for operations abroad. Knowing the approximate age of Ruslan Boshirov, the authors of the study looked at photographs of those who graduated from these institutions between 2001 and 2003. On one of them, they found a similar person: the photo was taken in Chechnya, it shows graduates of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School. On the website of the school, there was a list of graduates who received the title of Hero of Russia, and in it - Anatoly Chepiga, who was suitable in age and served in Chechnya. One of the databases contained the address of Chepiga in Khabarovsk, which coincided with the address of the military unit corresponding to the 14th brigade of the GRU special forces. The publications also cite an extract from the Russian Passport system for Anatoly, who is very similar to Ruslan Boshirov.

39-year-old Anatoly Chepiga was born in the village of Nikolaevka near the Russian-Chinese border, at the age of 18 he entered the Far Eastern Federal District, graduated with honors and went to serve in the 14th brigade of the GRU special forces. In December 2014, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia "for the fulfillment of a peacekeeping mission." Shortly before this, the authors of the study note, his unit was seen near the border of Ukraine.

In previous investigations, Bellingcat and The Insider released documents on Petrov and Boshirov from databases. The extracts are marked “do not give information” and “p. With." (journalists decoded it as “top secret”), and the phone number indicated there, as it turned out, belongs to the Ministry of Defense. Both passports differ by only one digit. The day before , it was reported that the FSB had begun an investigation into the disclosure of information, the service finds out which of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sold data on both journalists.