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Czech police announce manhunt for two Russian nationals matching Skripal-poisoners’ description

Police officers in the Czech Republic seek two Russian nationals who used passports registered to Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. (While in the country, the men later switched to Moldovan and Tajikistani passports under different names.)

The individuals’ photographs, shared online by the Czech police, indicate that the two wanted men are the same suspected Russian intelligence agents accused of trying to assassinate Sergey Skripal and his daughter in England in March 2018. Following the attack in England, investigative journalists identified Petrov and Boshirov as aliases for Russian military intelligence officers named Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga. The statement from the Czech police does not mention the attack against the Skripals.

Czech officials say these individuals are connected to two fatal explosions at military ammunition depots in Vrbetice in 2014.

The Czech Republic simultaneously expelled 18 Russian diplomats believed to be secret intelligence agents.

Background

What is the GRU? Who gets recruited to be a spy? Why are they exposed so often? Here are the most important things you should know about Russia’s intelligence community

Background

What is the GRU? Who gets recruited to be a spy? Why are they exposed so often? Here are the most important things you should know about Russia’s intelligence community

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