I’ve decided that the previous piece has had its fill of comments, and that I would start another thread (this is another way of saying that I’m probably not going to get around to doing Part 7 of the current series until the end of the week, or possibly beginning of next).

Anyway, to get your thoughts flowing, I thought I’d just throw in a quick comment on the new OPCW summary report into the “Amesbury poisonings”. It is, like the report into the “Salisbury poisonings”, perhaps more interesting for what it leaves out than what it puts in. That is, it once again refuses to name the name of the substance used in the poisonings, instead referring to it no less than eight times as a/the “toxic chemical”.

Isn’t that odd? Members of the British Government have repeatedly used the word “Novichok” in relation to the poisonings, and yet the OPCW refuses to use this word in its report. Why ever not? Even this one can’t be put down to national security, since members of the British Government have blabbed the word about incessantly since March. So what could account for the reticence?

Simple. Firstly, the word Novichok is something which Boris Johnson et al appear to have sucked out of their thumbs back in March, and it turns out that it is as broad, as long, as vague, as meaningless and as non-specific as you want it to be. Does it mean the series of nerve agents with the codenames A-230 – A-234? If it does, why not name which one it is?

But the other reason is that the official position of Porton Down is rather more nuanced than the Government would have us believe. This is, so far as I know, Porton Down’s only official statement as to the identity of the “toxic chemical” mentioned by the OPCW, given in testimony at the High Court between 20th to 22nd March (in section 17 i):

“Blood samples from Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were analysed and the findings indicated exposure to a nerve agent or related compound. The samples tested positive for the presence of a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent [my emphasis].”

So what we have here is a classic case of smokes and mirrors, floating on a giant lake of obfuscation. Porton Down says that the chemical was a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent.  The OPCW says that it is the toxic chemical identified by Porton Down, but declines to name it, presumably because they don’t want to look a bit stupid saying, it was a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent. But the fact that Porton Down won’t go any further than the broad and meaningless phrase, Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent, and the fact that the OPCW don’t want to use that phrase for fear of looking like fools, doesn’t stop the British Government claiming “Novichok” followed by game, set and match.

The other thing that is very odd about the report is what it says in point number 12:

“Due to the unknown storage conditions of the small bottle found in the house of Mr Rowley and the fact that the environmental samples analysed in relation to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Mr Nicholas Bailey were exposed to the environment and moisture, the impurity profiles of the samples available to the OPCW do not make it possible to draw conclusions as to whether the samples are from the same synthesis batch. [my emphasis].”

I’m at a bit of a loss here. The impurity profiles of the samples? This is what they said in their report on 12th April:

“The TAV team notes that the toxic chemical was of high purity. The latter is concluded from the almost complete absence of impurities.”

So in April, high purity and almost complete absence of impurities. In September, exposed to the environment and moisture (and for several weeks apparently). Something about this strikes me as being too ridiculous for words.

Anyway, discuss amongst yourselves. But of course don’t confine your comments to this latest oddity. Discussions of all oddities are welcome.

282 thoughts on “Open Thread on the New OPCW Report and Any Other Business”

  1. As one of those who have followed the story right from the start on, I congretulate you. Really fine analysis.

  2. This is only a test. Because since my last post nobody made a comment here for almost 24h.
    THAT IS SUSPICIOUS:

  3. Oh dear… now the Bellingcat couch potato is in :
    https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/09/06/god-level-trolling-russian-ministry-foreign-affairs-spokesperson-maria-zakharova-promotes-debunked-internet-conspiracy-theories-skripal-nerve-agent-attack/

    We are all „denialists and conspiracy theorists“.

    Anyway… the Gatwick CCTV metadata are confusing :
    Date/Time Original : 2018:05:03 18:43:50
    Modify Date : 2018:09:05 02:24:35 https://exif.tools/https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/media/2848/CO1416-2018-CCTV1/standard/CO1416-2018-CCTV1.jpg

    Date/Time Original : 2018:05:03 13:46:30
    Modify Date : 2018:09:05 02:24:16 https://exif.tools/https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/media/2843/CO1416-18-CCTV2/standard/CO1416-18-CCTV2.jpg

    1. I am an amateur. Can you please explain the significance of the variance in exif data? I’m fairly certain that there is something ‘wrong’ with MI6/Wiltshire police ‘evidence’ but can you please explain what specifically it is? (Not flaming.) I just want to understand what is going on and ‘why’ MI6 may have ‘screwed this up so badly.’

  4. I have found another couple of curious statements in the OPCW Amesbury report in addition to the one I described in my earlier post.

    #8 The results of the analysis of biomedical samples conducted by OPCW Designated Laboratories demonstrate that Mr Charles Rowley and Ms Dawn Sturgess were exposed to and intoxicated by this toxic chemical.
    For a public report, the choice of the word “intoxicated” is strange. Most people would understand that intoxication refers to either being drunk or on drugs. If someone had been seriously poisoned, almost noone would refer to the poisoning as “being intoxicated.” Is the OPCW subtly admitting that the toxic chemical was in fact something like Fentanyl or BZ, as has been suggested elsewhere?

    #10 of the report refers to 2-3% impurities. In comparison, the OPCW reported the Skripal samples were virtually devoid of impurities. This might suggest that the two samples came from two separate production batches. And if this is the case, it does not line up with the current story, which is that the perfume bottle was discarded after the Salisbury incident.

    #11 The toxic chemical compound, which displays the toxic properties of a nerve agent, is the same toxic chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal…
    Again, I find this wording very strange. If the OPCW determined that the chemical was indeed a nerve agent, then why wouldn’t they say that here? It would seem perfectly reasonable for the report to say “The toxic chemical compound, which was identified to be a nerve agent of the Novichok family, ….” but they don’t say that. Why not? It seems that the report is trying to deliberately be vague.

    #12 OPCW cannot determine if it came from the same batch.
    This will disappoint May and Johnson, who were hoping that the OPCW would determine this.

    I also find it very odd that in the whole report, the name of the chemical is not revealed; it is only in the provate report.
    Why is the name of the toxic chemical not in the public report? If it is indeed Novichok, you would think the OPCW would be very happy to put this in the public report. The fact they don’t, and instead seem to dance around with unclear phrases, is very suspicious.

    1. “nerve agent” does not mean much in chemical scientific terms. Lots of stuff damages nerves including alcohol and pesticides.

  5. I know there is no way of knowing but it would be interesting to see the “no shows” for the two London – Moscow flights the guys were booked on.
    Also, if they are frequently used couriers or just travelholics why did the UK not wait until they came to the EU again and nab them?
    Passengers can be picked up without advertising EAW in advance thanks to Advanced Passenger Information.
    Simple explanation – SIS somehow knew they weren’t coming again. But how?

  6. In yesterday’s statement by Neil Basu there is a complete lack of reference to the Skripal’s activities on 04 March when the Russians were in town. No mention of interviewing them at any time or asking them about these suspects.

    In contrast, when it comes to the Rowley/Sturgess part of the investigation, he states, “Officers have interviewed Charlie a number of times about his recollections prior to falling ill.” He then details what Charlie told police.

    More obfuscation, to put it politely.

  7. Hi Rob,
    Now we can appreciate the real value of your wonderful blog!
    I hope you will now take time out to write your assessment of where we are now in the light of these latest developments (OPCW and Suspects)…
    – What is new? What do we know now that we didn’t know before?
    – What did we think we knew before that apparently ain’t so?
    – What questions have been answered?
    – What questions remain unanswered?
    – What new questions have now emerged?
    I know you’d only reached Hole No.6. But maybe we’re now in a whole new ballpark. Or maybe Holes 7-10 are still worth writing about, I don’t know. I guess the door handle was going to be one of them…
    Thanks again for all your work.
    Cheers
    john_a

  8. Kremlin spox maintaining nothing to do with Russia.
    Personally I think they either better come clean and admit the FSB were trying to get Sergei out OR produce these two guys and expose them as gangsters/mafia/oligarch henchmen/Ukranian/UK assets.
    I have been to Russia. Getting in or out they are as tight as a drum. It is inconceivable these guys are not known to the authorities.
    Having said that the consecutive passport numbers could be explained by a stolen batch.

    1. Agreed. The Russians MUST know which two guys are being pointed at. They even know which flights they flew from and to Moscow in.

    2. I fully agree with that. It is now up to Russia to provide data, but unfortunately nothing will come. They are deeply involved.

      1. I have a bridge I would like to sell to you – it’s a real bargain.

        Please reply asap! I don’t have many left.

        1. Paul, Rob clearly stated in a comment that he doesn’t want any personal attacks on his pages. Why are you stalking me? Do I pose a threat to you? These pages were a nice pastime, nothing more.

      2. I have no doubt the Russians will be making their own enquiries without making a song and dance about it. But we only have the UK’s incompetent word for it that these two men came in on Russian passports, with British visas and from Moscow. Until I see photo evidence of this I choose to believe nothing they say – well Karen Pierce was quite happy to distort the truth at today’s UN meeting and we know Theresa May is very good at lying. Personally I believe nothing they utter. Having checked flight timetables I believe that a Turkish flight picking up passengers at Kiev was also scheduled to land at Gatwick at 16.00 on the day these two men were captured on CCTV at Gatwick at about that time. Granted that flight might have been delayed or even cancelled because of bad weather that weekend but it just struck me that they might have come on that flight and all this talk of Moscow flights is a red herring to enhance the official narrative. It would also explain the reluctance of the UK to share visa information with the Russians. Visitors from the Ukraine can enter most EU countries without a visa but require one for travel to the UK and Ireland, so officials here would still have access to their photos.

      3. Do you read Russian?

        https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2018/09/06/n_12000415.shtml?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop

        This is the Alexander Petrov named in the British press. The photo is just the stock one from the papers and does not necessarily match his appearance, which is not shown in the article. But his employment matches what the British press says he does for a living, as well as his name. He says,

        Do you read Russian?

        https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2018/09/06/n_12000415.shtml?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop

        This is the Alexander Petrov named in the British press. The photo is just the stock one from the papers and does not necessarily match his appearance, which is not shown in the article. But his employment matches what the British press says he does for a living, as well as his name. He says,

        “I know nothing about this and have nothing to do with the Skripal affair. This is a complete coincidence: I was not that person in London; I can’t even get to the Altai. I work as the head of a site in the Tomsk branch of RPO Microgen, the Scientific Research and Production department of “Virion”

        Petrov’s name, which need not necessarily be an alias – although that’s what the official narrative says – could have been extracted from any number of databases or employment records.

  9. Visa tourist business other….? Theresa May stated GRU highly
    trained.
    The actions of these Gents does not show this. If this is what
    Mrs May believes say it in public without protection of Government.
    Back your evidence up Mrs May without a quake In your voice.
    Mention Brexit and her voice starts quivering.
    Yesterdays performance at school her voice never quivered. Well
    rehearsed after ridiculous dance classes.

  10. From Day One the PM has dug herself a hole from which there was no escape, so she has to keep on digging and shout “It was Putin” to her chums in the House of Commons.
    I’m assuming that either our, or the US, security services knew that SOMETHING (but not sure WHAT) was going on from the very start. And so the story grew to fit the political agenda. That we aren’t being told the truth about The Mill pub CCTV etc etc demonstrates the cover up. Oh, and the unprotected police briefing in Zizzi’s alongside the toxic table !

    So after floating numerous theories for the “attack” they finally settled on the door handle, improbable though that was. I’m guessing this was once the two Russian “passport holders” were discovered and put in the frame. If their mission was simply as couriers this will probably never come to light.

    I’m late to commenting on this blog but God Bless you all for fighting for the truth.

    1. You could be being a tad too generous. From my understanding contamination via door handle as presented is not merely improbable but impossible. There are simply too many variables in respect of the degree of contamination each may have received at the door and in respect of their physical characteristics for both Skripals to have collapsed simultaneously, and any rumoured time release or time delay incorporated, if that is even possible and if it were in fact done, can never be that exact and why time release or delayed medicines always state: “from X hours to X hours” for it to work and not exactly 4 hours later and you are done!

      1. gbrbsb – of course you are right about the door handle story being IMPOSSIBLE. Amazing that our TV and papers don’t question this point. The whole official narrative falls apart..

  11. I don’t think or border agency or homeland security folk are covered in too much glory here.

    Passports reported as genuine, but the names are fake. (How can that be?)
    There must be iris and/or fingerprints in some sort of biometric data, either on passports, visa applications or both.
    Latest reports:

    The pair’s passports had near consecutive serial numbers, differing only by the last digit – one ending with 4, the other with 7. They purchased return tickets from London to Moscow for both Sunday 4 March – the day Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned in Salisbury – and for the following day. Boshirov and Petrov took the first of the two flights.”

    So we have almost identical passport numbers with two chaps with the same flight bookings.
    Both having Sunday and Monday flights booked for the return trip.

    How many flags are needed before UK “security” takes notice?
    I had imagined that spying and skulduggery was more inventive than this.

  12. Rob wrote earlier : „Thirdly, the image is taken at 13:08, and the next image is at 13:50 at the train station. Again, unless these guys were doing some shopping, this is faintly ridiculous.“

    Summerlock Approach would be a perfect location to hand over travel documents to Sergei.
    The BMW was on CCTV at the Devizes Inn pub at 13:32:22
    The Skripals arrived at 13:40 at Sainsbury’s car park.
    A short handover of documents through the open window, no CCTV at Summerlock Approach.
    Summerlock Approach is the only point were the Skripals could have met the two men in person.
    And both parties could reach their points of next sighting in time.

    Another possibility could be, that the suspects deposited the contaminated documents in the Mill Pub toilet (arrival must be on CCTV). At Summerlock Approach Sergei gave them the money and was told where the documents are.
    In Mill Pup Sergei picked up the package, went to the bench and unwrapped it. The rest is known (if we assume the Skripals were the couple at the bench).

    DS Bailey picked up the contaminated travel documents at the bench. But he had gloves to avoid fingerprints on it. He saw it were fake documents and he had to catch up the right ones in Christie Miller road.
    He drove to Sergei´s home and touched the door handle with the contaminated gloves.
    When he finally took off his gloves and touched them later, he got his dose.

    1. I agree that it is coincidental that our 2 guys are waiting at the corner where Sergei is about to drive past on his way to the car park and that there is no explanation for the time lag. The direction of travel also means they had been somewhere else first in the town centre..
      My concern is that the Police only release what they want us to see, so why let us see this if it is significant?

      1. Norfolk Eagle, I agree with your concern.
        But let us assume that MET does not have the handover on CCTV. Then they need eyewitnesses.
        The really important things are still concealed: What shows CCTV in the Mill Pub, what happened before 4pm around the bench, when the Skripals returned home.
        Were they perhaps in the house when their door was “groomed” in broad daylight ?

      1. Then it MUST be true, Jo.
        But fun aside, I would pay attention to the articles of Urban, Harding and Ellen Barry.
        Those are the embedded journalist, sitting at the source and selling all the nonsense „logically) to the audience.

      2. Can anyone give any info on the photo cctv3? The other 2 station photos have a date taken date, this one doesn’t. I can’t also work out where in the station it was taken, the whole composition of this photo seems very odd. It is also the only evidence that they were in Salisbury on the Saturday.

  13. Just found on youtube, RT’s live broadcast of a press conference featuring Viktoria. Unfortunately, I missed the first 34 minutes (it seems to have started a little after 7 a.m. U.S. Eastern time). The Russian counter-propaganda begins! Should be available via RT’s youtube channel for later viewing.

  14. 1) If we assume that the assassins were with GRU, a major intelligence agency, then all the planning and reconnaisance had been done by other operatives, not hitmen. I can imagine only one rationale for the hitmen to arrive in Salisbury on the eve of the pre-planned attack: they wanted to reconnoitre the locations of CCTVs in order to avoid them on the “hit day”. But what we see? The assassins were caught on CCTV only once on the “reconnaisance day” and many times on the “hit day”.

    2) Could it be that the CCTV5 image, on Wilton Road, was caught at another location, within a 10-minute moderate-trot walk from the rail station? Maybe, the image was caught not near the Shell petrol station but in a similarly-looking stretch of Wilton Road.

      1. I’m not very smart in such matters, but it seems to me that the white lines on the road are not the same on both pictures. Were the pictures taken on different dates ?

        1. Yes Inquirer, those pics of the Shell station, from across the road, were taken in June 2017. So new line marking has probably occurred.

    2. Milda, it was definitely the Shell station. Look at google street view.
      We don´t know how much CCTV the MET really has of the three days.

      1. Yes, Liane. I came to the same firm conclusion from my own search on GSV, using the road markings. And there is footpath access to Montgomery Gardens almost opposte the Shell station. Thanks for your excellent input, and to Rob for his clear expositions, which I only discovered today.

  15. a question on the Salisbury station cctv pictures. How many exits does the station have? We have 3 shots all with different barriers/locations.
    The one taken on the Saturday is the only picture we have of the suspects in Salisbury on that day. The picture is interesting in that the suspects have gone through the barrier but have then turned round and are looking out. good for the camera shot but otherwise why?
    I have just looked again at the cctv shot in Wilton Road. I dont know if this has been mentioned before but the men are not casting any shadows whereas the car in the background does. It was supposed to be sunny that day.

    1. My mistake, there is a shadow under the shoe but even so I would not have expected the sun to be so high.

  17. I’ve been away for a while so have missed all the recent information being ‘introduced’ to the public.

    So apparently we now have a Russian State sponsored assassination that consists of the ‘Russian secret agents’ packing their bags with deadly nerve agents, flying in to the UK direct from Russia, on Russian passports, with Russian names. Who then stay in a cheap hotel and catch the train to Salisbury, head off to dose Sergei’s doorknob in broad daylight, with no idea if he’s in and could catch them in the act, then wander around for a while making sure they get on as many cameras as possible, go out of their way to dispose of the unused chemical in a manner that pretty much guarantees it will be found and kill someone. Then toddle off home, back to Russia naturally.

    Obviously this is utter nonsense. The Russian GRU would not attempt an assassination on foreign soil in such a slap dash manner. They’d at least give the operatives non Russian passports and not enter the country direct from Russia. And would dispose of the unused chemical in a slightly more safe manner. And would have done a considerably more recon beforehand.

    Its as if someone was trying to stamp ‘Russia did it!’ on every part of the operation. Or doesn’t care about any geopolitics, because this was business. I’d say that if these two did poison the Skripals it looks more like an organised crime hit than anything else.

    What must be remembered in all this is that regardless of everything else, the UK government case relies entirely on the fact that ‘Novichok’ was only something the Russian State could have access to. If it turns out that the agent used was not a pure military nerve agent and was some other type of incapacitant then there is nothing that ties this case to the Russian government any more than to Russian Mafia, or indeed any other State operatives who might want to implicate the Russians. Anyone can fly in from Russian on a fake Russian passport and do the job.

    1. “Its as if someone was trying to stamp ‘Russia did it!’ on every part of the operation.”

      YES !
      By the way : Even if it´s high purity Novichok 234, it doesn´t point necessarily to Russia. Too many states are in possession of the formula.
      And too many states want to see Russia on its knees.

  18. A translation from Russian to English news:

    The British authorities called the names of the alleged poisoners Skripal, Posted photos with their moves. Despite the mature age, the biographies of men stingy and give a hoax, which does not exclude the British version of the fictitious names and work of suspects for Russian intelligence.

    According to official data, Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov flew on March 2, 2018, from Sheremetyevo to London airport Gatwick. According to the information of “Fontanka”, 150 passengers were registered on the flight of “Aeroflot” su2588.

    The suspects purchased tickets on foreign passports of the series “65”, the document numbers differ the last digit:… 1297 and… 1294.

    Apparently, in the hands of Boshirova and Petrov already had return tickets, and for two consecutive flight from Heathrow to Sheremetyevo-evening March 4 and night 5. The British authorities believe that the suspects took advantage of the first.

    There is practically no information about Boshirov in open sources. According to “Fontanka”, he was born on April 12, 1978 in Dushanbe, was registered in Moscow in a 25-storey house on the Big Quay Street.

    In 2015, he was led by two executives for car fines, received with a difference of three days-20 and 23 July. The strange thing is that the production numbers go out of order. The first is assigned 433048, the second-432322, although they register one unit-Inter-District Department of bailiffs to recover administrative fines № 1 Moscow. There are no cases of administrative offenses against Ruslan Boshirov on the portal of the world judges of the capital. Also it is not present in the data bank of executive production.

    “Fontanka” called the long-term residents of “Boshirovskogo” at home on the Big Quay. They live on the same stairwell. “Only an elderly woman lives in the apartment named by you,” the correspondent said. -We carry her money, she collectes for hire a cleaning lady. The man was never seen in the apartment and was not met in the entrance. The only thing we can assume is that it is the son of the mistress, registered at the address, but never lived here. ”

    The network activity of Boshirov is also different. Created under this name and surname in 2014, the pages are empty. In Facebook, Boshirova registered one friend, a girl from Ukraine. Profile “VKontakte” contains information, as if Boshirov graduated from the geographical faculty of MSU in 2004 in the direction of “hydrology sushi”.

    According to “Fontanka”, on Boshirova and Petrov passports (usual, not biometric) were’nt decorated about two years ago, when they began to issue blanks 65 series. On These are passports both often flew to Europe. From September 2016 to March 2018 they visited Amsterdam, Geneva, Milan, and many times – Paris. Alexander Petrov at privilege once before the case of Salisbury was in London-from February 28 to March 5, 2017.

    About Petrov is known even less. According to the documents he was born on July 13, 1979 *. The person with such date of birth and the name-surname is found in the list of employees of the national manufacturer of immunobiological preparations-fsue of NGO “Microgen”. It was established in 2003 by the merger of fourteen enterprises of the immunobiological industry. The structure of “microgene”, subordinated to MoH, consists of nine branches.

    According to the British anti-terrorist police, Boshirov and Petrov are pseudonyms, revamp identities Zalegendirovany. Revamp real names are like Scotland Yard known. According to Prime Minister Theresa May, The suspects serve in the GRU Ministry of Defense.

    The accusation against Petrov and Boshirov is presented in four articles-conspiracy to kill Sergei Skripal, attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and police Nick Bailey, storage and use of the poisonous substance “newbie” in violation of the Convention On the Prohibition Chemical, intentional infliction of serious harm to the health of Skripal.

    Previously, Scotland Yard closely traced the movements of Boshirova and Petrov in the UK, from the moment of revamp arrival in Gatwick March 2 to departure from Heathrow 4th. The suspects stayed at the London City stay hotel, where they allegedly found traces of a newcomer, went to Salisbury on 3 and 4 March. The poisonous substance to the UK was delivered In the tank-the simulator of the bottle of perfume “Premier Jour” Nina Ricci.

    * Clarification: the date of birth of Alexander Petrov was incorrectly indicated in the material. According to the documents he was born on July 13, 1979, and not on the 31st.

  19. I hope today more info comes out about the travels of The Chemical Brothers.
    Newsnight said last night they travelled extensively. Not sure if together or not.
    If it is true I think they were couriers bringing travel documents and cash (that Yulia didn’t want to be found with entering UK). I wonder if that detail will disappear like anything else that might upset the official narrative.

    Right at the start I said Yulia and even Sergei could be active FSB assets.
    The problem for Russia after their “liquidation” was they cannot admit to it.
    It explains Sergei’s behaviour, the lift to Heathrow, turning the phones off whilst out on Sunday morning.
    It explains what DSB went to look for at CM road (docs, cash, communication equipment).

    It also explains why the “assassins” didn’t care about being seen – because when they were exposed Sergei was supposed to be back in Russia.

  21. We are told these two men are Russian Intelligence. Aren’t they meant to work covertly? Isn’t it a prerequisite of the job for spooks to remain concealed and hidden as much as possible? Especially if you are on a mission of murder! They have deliberately passed an untold number of cameras in Salisbury, and that doesn’t even account for the hundreds of CCTV cams they must have passed through between London and Salisbury. They knew the cams were there from their reccy the day before.
    They could easily have got a cab at Gatwick, dropped off in Reigate where a Russian colleague could pick them up out of sight and be taken to a B&B somewhere remote a few miles north of Salisbury.
    For the next two days, with the assistance of a driver, they could have got to Christie Miller Road without ever being seen, unless there really are cams in that road. Although, if there were, and probably only to keep an eye on who is coming and going at Skripal’s house, they would have been able to establish the door handle theory within hours.
    There can’t be any real doubt that either these men desperately wanted to be seen or they are the worst spies since Rowan Atkinson!

    1. Hi P John. Look at the travel record. They are FSB couriers. Does Russia admit Yulia was an agent or do nothing?
      I guess she knows what she signed up for. Looks like Sergei won’t cooperate with MI5.

  22. Hi all,

    Does anyone here have the ability to subject one of these photos to a forensic “photoshop” test? The one I’m particularly interested in is image CCTV 5, the one outside the Petrol station on the Wilton Road. My interest in it is for a number of reasons:

    1. It is the only image of them “out and about” which has the time stamp on.

    2. It is the only image that puts the pair anywhere in the vicinity of Christie Miller Road (well still a good way off but headed in that direction).

    3. According to the time given for the image of them arriving at Salisbury that day, they managed to get from the train station (still having not gone through the barriers) to the Wilton Road petrol station in 10 minutes 28 seconds. Frankly, I’m a bit sceptical about this. One commenter, David, expressed scepticism about it, and I replied that I thought it was doable. However, coming back on the train yesterday, I tried it. It took me 12 minutes 15 seconds at a pretty quick walking pace, and this was timed from the entrance of the station (remember the picture of the two guys shows them at 11:48:20 not having gone through the barrier yet so you can add another 10-15 seconds on and say around 12 minutes 30 at a brisk trot). And note in the Wilton Road picture, they appear to be sauntering rather than walking quickly. I suppose they could have jogged some of it, but I think it unlikely that they could have walked it in 10:20.

    4. Being a little sceptical about it after point number 3, I’ve been looking at it a bit closer and something nags me about it. I won’t tell you what that is, as I don’t want to prejudice anyone before looking at it. But if anyone is able to give it a careful look, that would be appreciated.

    1. Rob,

      That image does have the stamp “exit road”.
      The phrase would be meaningless to a camera but might be significant to an artist brushing up on the story.
      Also in the Salisbury pictures, do the Russian chaps wear the same footware throughout their visit?

    2. Hi Rob

      I’m not sure what you’re looking for. The picture seems legitimate and not photoshopped but it could have easily been staged. Have a look at these pictures from across the road. You can clearly see that camera and the picture appears to have been taken from the correct angle for that camera.

      https://investigator66.tumblr.com

      Duncan C.
      The ‘Exit Road’ is just the camera name. They usually have Entry Road, Pumps 1-3, Pumps 4-6, Exit Road etc. You set those names at time of installation of the CCTV system.

    3. Assuming they walked on to Christie Miller Road, they also made good time to get back into the city centre for the shot at 13.05pm on the bridge

    4. Rob,

      CCTV5 passes forensic tests but CCTV6 does not pass the tests I used – CCTV6 is not ‘guaranteed’ to be fake but it ‘probably’ is.

      But ‘@Tin Foil Hat Man’ has already given us the answer below – CCTV6 cannot be at 13:05. The lighting is wrong, it was much earlier in the day.

      At 13:05 the Sun was to the south and shadows should point to the north – in the image, the men are wallking generally west; so south is to the right of the image and north is to the left.

      1) Boshirov’s midriff is in total shade – the light is coming from behind him.
      2) Where is the light coming from that illuminates the potholes in the road?
      3) Petrov has a partial shadow pointing WEST.
      4) The sign post has a partial shadow pointing WEST.
      5)The top of the waste bin (bottom right corner) is in direct light but the bin stands in the shade of the clock tower (see Google image below).
      https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0687783,-1.7985487,3a,15y,203.68h,78.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sK3mittmMx6M0DUuKWO_yxQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

      As Tin Foil Hat Man has already pointed out, the illumination of the walls is wrong too for 13:05.

      ALL the above indicates that the light was coming from the EAST – early in the morning.

      Is that why there are so few other people to be seen in any of the street images?

      1. There is one word that always springs to mind when I observe the actions of government agencies:

        I N E P T

        nuff said

        1. Only photos 1, 2, 3, and 5 have embedded timestamps. The timing on the others, including 6 and 7, is given by the police.

        2. CCTV7 is a clear pass.

          A word of warning, the lower the resolution, the less reliable the test. I ran a couple of different tests: the best one analyses and maps the compression ratios used in the image – where a picture is edited you get rapid changes in compression ratios around the edited areas. In CCTV7 there are no anomalies in the ratios, it remains smooth across the entire image; in CCTV6 there are several anomalies.

          There are many ways to fake this. If you start with a high resolution image and then edit it but save it as a low resolution image, the editing gets ‘blurred out’. A similar effect can be achieved simply by taking a new picture of the edited image. Really clumsy editing will still stand out but the editing edges will tend to get blurred out in the ‘new’ image as it will have its own set of compression ratios.

          They did have 6 months to work on this and make sure their images passed basic forensics… after all forensics is what they do!

      3. I don’t think those are shadows. They could be reflections off the wet pavement, and therefore pointing straight at the camera. Have a look at the next photo where you see them from behind (after they crossed the road) – there are no shadows, and reflections are clear in the wet road. Also Borishov’s jacket is similarly dark.

        Always assume a proper explanation, and look for it, before jumping to a conclusion. Otherwise you fall for what’s called ‘confirmation bias’. And that’s how you get dismissed as a conspiracy nut.

    5. Hi Rob:
      Thanks for timing the route. It’d be interesting to check the accuracy of the CCTV system clock at both the gas and train stations. I don’t see anything odd about photo 5. The road markings and hint of ivy on the other side of street are consistent with what I saw on Google View. I’m less sure than I was yesterday about Petrov’s shoes being different from photo 6.

      About photos 1-9, they have had most or all of the EXIF data stripped, so there’s no info on camera type, settings, location. etc. However, photos 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 all have Date Created properties within the 02-10 May 2018 span. They also have the Program Name property value of “Windows Photo Editor 10.0.1.10011.16384,” which seems suspicious. Photos 3 and 5, with no info, have embedded timestamps, while photo 9 does not.

      1. Correction, it’s the “Date taken” property that has values for those photos, not the “Date Created” property.

    6. Rob, google maps says the walk from Christie Miller 47 to Mill Pub is 12 minutes.
      So it seems to be easy to walk from Salisbury railway to Shell on Wilton road in 10:30.
      They then turned to the right in Canadian Ave and reached Sergei´s home at approximately 12:05.
      WAS SERGEI AT HOME AT THIS TIME ?

      In the Shell CCTV Ruslan is the one with the backpack.
      In the Fisherton 13:08hrs CCTV Alexander carries the backpack.

      PS.: Excuse me, if i write something that is already said.
      I will read the 216 comments later.

      1. Liane Thueuer,
        No need to turn right and go up Canadian Avenue. There is a pedestrian footpath on the opposite side across from the Shell garage on Wilton Road. This footpath leads to Montgomery Gardens and then directly onto the Skripal’s cul-de-sac.

        See footpath on the extreme left with the woman and push chair standing to the left of it.

        https://goo.gl/maps/SmceDAqUsY32

    7. Using eyes rather than software, in CCTV5 (easier to see enlarged) they both have one foot off the ground as they walk… but only one of them casts a shadow…

      How did they do that?

      1. Thats a classic Photoshop rule. Dont forget the shadows, What do make of that missing shadow under the closest foot Paul?

    8. Regarding point 4, they seem to be moving at a very relaxed pace, with short strides. In the foreground, Petrov’s raised foot is only slightly behind the planted foot. Borishov’s feet look close together, as well. Compare their strides to photo 6: Petrov definitely has a much longer stride (nearly the width of the paving stone) and Borishov’s may be somewhat longer. In this photo, they’re also walking in march step, although that could be one-time occurrence.

  23. Amazing..Charlie Rowley less than 48hrs ago was incoherent talking
    like a child and very weak.
    Now he having a full blown conversation about justice and what a
    good job Police Security Services are doing.
    To much is happening at once after months of nothing?

    Thanks All

    1. The more happens at the same time the more it distracts from the important things (Syria, Ukraine, Dossier, OPCW Report, etc.)

  24. The quality of images is exceptional-fantastic. But they have
    had six months to stage it and coble it together.
    Scene One..Just walk past and try looking Russian..Action!
    Cut…No No No..You must look at camera..Take two..Action!

    For a three day mission they certainly had a lot of different
    footwear. You would think they would travel light being so
    highly trained and avoid excess shoes-boots-trainers?

    Is Dangerous Gordon out the frame now?

    Na its to perfect-staged and convenient. Don’t buy it

  25. Here are some of the negative reviews which far outnumber the positive ones on Trip Adviser for The Citystay hotel:

    Worst hotel experience ever
    Horrendous experience – never again
    Dingy Dank Derelict
    Desperately Depressing
    So dirty and the staff was unfriendly
    Completely mislead- do not visit
    Disaster
    Over Priced and no services
    Overpriced Avoid
    Unpleasant hotel
    Totally disappointed

  26. I had to laugh when I read this review on Trip Advisor, for The Citystay Hotel.

    Becky T
    London, United Kingdom
    Reviewed today
    A Hotel to Die for;)
    Room was small and basic but nothing to write home about. stayed in a single room with bath outside. Be careful when touching doors and surfaces as these are unclean. I took some anti bacterial wipes. Give it a miss:(

    1. Haha ! Becky T was lucky to survive. It must have been the Baby Wipes that saved her.

      The hotel’s trade will soon be booming with all this adverse free publicity, attracting curious Skripalogists from around the world to endure the experience.

      I can see Salisbury some day cashing in on ‘Skripal Tourism’, with organised tours along the ‘Novichok Trail’ (led by guides with fake Russian accents), copycat hotels with sticky door handles that promote the ‘Skripal reality experience’, tacky gift shops selling Skripal themed memorabilia… authentic reproduction Premier Jour™ bottles, black ‘Kill me Quick’ assassin masks, fancy dress hazmat costumes, artificial flower bouquets with hidden ‘perfume’ sprays, sticks of shocking pink Novirock®, etc.

      Even Porton Down could be converted into a themed amusement park aimed at the gullible American tourist trade, the rather staid and unappealing DSTL name rebranded as the more catchy ‘Novipark’. It will open its welcoming doors to all – for a truly hands-on Novichok experience. Children could play ‘hunt the bottle’ or ‘count the holes’. They dress up as little CBW scientists making Military Grade sweets, play with the animals in Pets’ Corner, compose bioassay reports… PD is chok full of opportunties. The beautiful landscaped CBW testing ranges could be hired out for ‘corporate-bonding’ events such as CB war games, physical endurance and decontamination exercise fun. A-234 hole Trump-sponsored Maxicrazy golf course would spread gracefully across the unspoilt contaminated rolling downs. Children could feed the ducks at the lake (garlic bread supplied) or play at a 10-Hole Minicrazy golf course (winners receiving attractive blue colanders and fishing-nets). That embarrassing US enclave could be converted into a luxury Supermax prison – a kind of early-retirement gated community – for lying politicians and officials, run by Politically Corrective Enterprises Global Inc. (Charlie Philmer could add it to his long list of dodgy directorships). The possibilties are endless in a new post-Novichok world.

      1. Miheila, have you ever thought of doing stand up? You put Lee Camp to shame!

        Wonderful post, it’s brightened my morning. I’m still trying to figure out which latitude you’re on.

      2. Funniest post in the whole forum, thanks Miheila.

        Rob, your change to do big business as a local Salisbury citizen.

      3. LOL Miheila !
        I want to add the “dig for an ambulance” tour to the landfill site Wingmoor Farm, Bishops Cleeve.
        And it would be a good place for “hunt the Pokemons”. They will add a new Pokemon named Novichoky.

  27. The names used/chosen, ‘Alexander Petrov’ and ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ are the equivalents of ‘John Smith’ in Russian and as a Russian Muslim name. Similarly the 12 Russians named by Mueller for DNC hacking also all had suspiciously common names. The lack of patronymics is veryodd too, for they would be printed on their documents, so why did the police not give them ?

    A search for ‘Alexander Petrov’ returns no fewer than 70,000 results on VK.

    1. In the above post, I’d recently read about the name ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ somewhere as being very common as a Russian Muslim name, but on checking it doesn’t seem to be, however, ‘Ruslan’ is a non-Muslim Russian first name, more commonly female as ‘Ruslana’. ‘Alexander Petrov’ is extremely common. Russians named Alexander or Alexandra are commonly called ‘Sasha’ for short, as was Sergei’s son. I’m almost sure that the actual Russian equivalent of ‘Smith’ is ‘Kuznetsov’. I’m pretty familiar with a lot of Russian names, and have known many Russians, and picked up some of the language too, but I’ve no experience with Russian Muslim names.

      1. “Boshirov” = “Boshir” + Russian “-ov” ending.

        Boshir is a variant of a common Arabic boys’ name and surname, Bashir. Another variant is Bashar.

        Remind me of the Syrian President’s first name again?

        “Ruslan” is a variation on Arslan, a boys’ name used in Turkey and parts of Central Asia. Incidentally a famous poem written by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (died 1836) is called “Ruslan and Ludmila”.

        1. Thanks for that Jen. I’ve read “Ruslan and Ludmila” too. I should have realised. I always associate the name Ruslana with the русалки. It just sounds too thoroughly Slavic to be Turkish, especially when written in Cyrillic, but I’m sure you’re right.

          I wonder… noticing your name and your knowledge of Russian names and culture, could you just possibly be the same polymathic Jen I knew from long ago? The unforgettable Jen from Minsk? Code-name Sebastian? If so, I’ll find a safe way of giving you my email address. If not, please ignore this paragraph, forget it, and eat the evidence !

        2. “a famous poem written by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (died 1836) is called “Ruslan and Ludmila”.

          Yes! You are right, I was thinking about this earlier and the missing third agent, the woman. Now we have here name “Ludmilla”.

          Pardon me while I fall off my chair laughing.

          Do not underestimate the power of the farce, I’m sure I remember someone saying that. In a film, perhaps.

  28. Not only did Petrov change shoes between Saturday and Sunday, he changed shoes on Sunday in Salisbury!

    The only picture with an embedded timestamp on Sunday, at 11:58, is CC TV5 – on Wilton Road. Petrov, in the foreground is wearing grey/green athletic shoes. Note the red emblem on left shoulder of jacket. Compare to CC TV6, Fisherton Rd Bridge- no timestamp but captioned 13:05 on the same day. Petrov, on the right, is wearing grey boots with a black partial toe cap and thicker, different laces.

    This image (6) is better quality, with a different color balance. I can’t see any hint of the red emblem on Petrov’s shoulder but this could be hidden due to the angle.

    1. ‘Petrov’s’ shoes on Sunday appear to be the same desert boots style in all the photos.

      More curious to me is that ‘Petrov’ seemed to gain about 20 pounds between Friday and Sunday and lose all of it on the way from Salisbury to Heathrow. Wouldn’t look quite so odd on Saturday as it was colder that day and long underwear wouldn’t be surprising. Also odd that on Sunday from 11:48 to 1:08 that their jackets were zipped up when the temperature was approximately 48 degrees (only 41 degrees the day before at noon).

      1. Marie – you could be right about the shoes being the same. I’m not as certain as I was yesterday. I agree that Petrov in Salisbury seems heavier and that they were very bundled up despite the milder weather and all the walking they were doing.

    1. Very, very suspicious. I said in an earlier post that they were probably Ukrainians, but whover they are they were working for the West.

    2. GRU Agent said “time stamps itself have identical pixel composition which is just impossible”

      I must confess that I am very ignorant about these matters. Would it be possible to explain why it is impossible that the same time stamp on two different CCTV have the same pixel composition ? Not that I don’t believe you, but I would like to use this argument.

      1. The camera’s image is derived from some form of CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor. These sensors are created by depositions of impurities on onto a slice taken from a semi-conductor ingot. So the precise alignment of the individual pixels (and they are not pixels, yet) is subject to variation. Added to that is the way that the image is generated, the timestamp numerals are either projected onto the sensor (in which case perfect alignment is most definitely impossible) or internally generated by the processor and merged with the image, perfect alignment again being impossible or at best very unlikely.

        One could write several pages on the technological factors underlying this.

    3. I spoke of this in the comments section of Craig Murray’s post “The impossible photo” :

      https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/09/the-impossible-photo/comment-page-13/#comments

      I got the following answer :
      “The time stamp is obviously painted over the image data when the image is already in digital form, be it inside the camera or on the computer storing the data. And when a time stamp is painted on a digital image, the coordinates and the pixels will obviously be identical, given that they probably use the same camera model and/or recording devices.”

  32. One of the guys – Petrov – seems to work for Russian Microgen Bioproducts that exports to the UK – and he had traveled to Britain before.
    https://meduza.io/en/feature/2018/09/05/russian-journalists-dig-up-information-about-the-secret-agents-who-allegedly-carried-out-the-salisbury-nerve-agent-attack
    http://microgenbioproducts.com/about/
    The two might just as well have been on a legitimate visit to someone they know.
    Extremely light Novichok found in the hotel room? Oh well ….

    1. Anidea their lack of legend is much like the Ukrainians on MH370. Tin foil hat time – they always seemed dodgy to me too.
      I think the Salisbury pair are couriers.

        1. Hi Jack. No – for travel documents and cash that Sergei needed to get out. They met Yulia at the house to hand over whilst Sergei took the phones out to persuade GCHQ nobody was home.

  33. image cctv6 at 13.05pm is of the suspects crossing the bridge over the river walking away from the town centre and back towards the station. Remarkably close to The Mill.
    image cctv7 at 13.08pm is a bit further down Fisherton Street at the junction of Summerlock Approach. They have crossed over Fisherton Street for some reason.
    So at 11.58am our suspects are seen outside the petrol station presumably on their way to the Skrypals. Next seen at 13.05pm leaving the city centre. any explanation?

  34. None of this helps with one of the biggest original mysteries: How come both Sergei and Yulia became affected at exactly the same instant, several hours after the alleged dosing of the door handle?
    Russians or no Russians in Salisbury, the door handle theory still seems far fetched. Are there CCTV images of the villains entering Christie Miller Road or standing at Sergei’s door? I think not.

    1. John A they ate the garlic bread at the same time. So maybe the slow burn novi hit the spot simultaneously that way.

    2. To answer you’re first question – they weren’t affected but the decoy couple on the bench were. This is the only explanation I can think of, and nobody else has so far come up with anything to refute it.

  35. To me, it is very strange that the assassins changed their footwear on the Sunday. I can understand that the assassins changed their clothes and caps, so that they looked differently if spotted by Skripal’s neighbours on 3 March and 4 March. But footwear? The men went for a 3-day trip and each of them took an additional pair of shoes. I think it is very unusual for men who travel like ordinary tourists.

    Also, Petrov on 3 March looks differently from Petrov on all other images. He seems to be some other man. Maybe, the 3 March image depicted two other men, with one of them retouched to look like Boshirov?

    I suspect that these Met images are a product of a major manipulation. Six months are a sufficient time for production.

  36. Okay, they could have got a train at 8.15 but decided to get one two hours later. They arrive at 11.48 and go straight to the house. And they are in luck – his car is out on its four hour phones off excursion.
    Say if Mo had come back with her plumbing bag. Or Ross was visiting to watch football. What were they going to do? Go up to the front door and do it anyway?
    How could they – without foreknowledge of him being out – given themselves such a tight schedule?

    More likely they are GRU or presented themselves to Yulia as GRU and were the exfiltration team.
    I said before she didn’t go out with Sergei. That is why he took the two phones and went somewhere like a church to turn them off. To throw of real time monitoring. The watchers would think no one was home.
    So these dudes met with Yulia while Sergei was out.
    Maybe they gave her whatever DSB was so eager to find.
    And not being hit men just couriers with no knowledge of any dirty deeds they didn’t bother with any tradecraft, like not going around like Siamese twins or putting on baseball caps.

    But the plan was rumbled (Yulia asking Mo to look after pets) and the kidnap disguised as novichok poisoning went down instead.

    1. Patrick,

      This bit, I think is crucial :
      “More likely they are GRU or presented themselves to Yulia as GRU and were the exfiltration team”.

      But I would reword it as :
      “More likely they presented themselves to Yulia as the GRU exfiltration team”. Yulia was fooled.

      I don’t necessarily go along with the rest, but that doesn’t mean I won’t change my theory later. There may be more in what you say than I accept at present and it’s got me thinking….

      1. Thanks Miheila. Any theory has to evolve. If we had CCTV of Sergei greeting Yulia at Heathrow we could say decoys were probably not involved but your theory matches them not meeting on Saturday. So no evidence of Sergei at LHR makes me think he may already have been detained.

        I did say before I thought Yulia stayed in the house to meet someone while Sergei took the phones on a ride.
        The actions of these guys makes little sense if the were assassins and did not want to get caught.
        But as couriers whose role would only be revealed with Sergei in Russia it becomes logical.
        It just occurred to me they may have been carrying a lot of cash as well as travel documents. That is why they couldn’t separate, in case one stole it.

  37. Hi Guys – just a little problem for you all to solve.

    http://news.met.police.uk/images/cctv6-equals-image-of-both-suspects-on-fisherton-road-salisbury-at-13-05hrs-on-04-march-2018-1408005

    The bike at top right, stands above a stone wall along the river. The top of the wall is in direct light and the face of the wall is in shade. Check it.

    The men are walking beside another wall. The top of that wall and the face of that wall are both in direct light. Check it.

    T H A T C A N N O T B E.

    Solar noon on March 4 was 12:18. At 13:05, the face of stone wall was in direct light and the face of the wall beside the men was in shade. That picture cannot be 13:05.

    OUCH! THAT IS AWKWARD!

    Good luck.

    P.S. Is the lady, bottom right, the PM on her way to the Skripal house, with some Novichok? That might give you a clue about the real time.

    1. Interesting. Does that mean that it could have been taken at around 15:30 ?
      If so, are they walking in a direction taking them away from the Mill pub ?
      If the answers to both are yes, then it would support my current theory.

    2. The best way to see the shadow is at the signpost at the end of the stone wall. The shadow is reflected in the wet and goes west. So the sun must be in the east.

  38. Some thoughts.

    I have not figured this out, and more minds may help.

    Catherine Street: Why the detour? More exposure to cameras etc.

    Luggage: Did they put their bags in a left luggage location at Waterloo? If any place should have CCTV cameras it would be a left luggage facility.

    Perfume Bottle: Atomiser creating a fine mist. Maybe not the way a gel could be applied to a door handle?

    Perfume Bottle: Charlie said in the unedited ITV interview that a knife was needed to open the packaging. Why would this step be needed by Russian agents looking to dispose of the remaining Novichok?

    Salisbury Routes: The Russian agents do not seem to be leaving the scene as soon as they can.
    There seems to be more than Station -Skripal House-Station. Even factoring in Catherine Street, the visit seems more complex than needed.

    London Hotel: May 4th it becomes a place of interest. Novichok residue, no Hazmat, no cordons, no PHE warnings, swabs taken without the protection gear. Basu only now asking for March witnesses rather than May 4th.

    Charlie’s House: Perfume bottle hidden on a counter top for 15 days.

    CCTV with duplicate timestamps and many other images with no timestamps.

    Lots to think about, Blogmirers.

    1. Duncan I thought they might have gone to Waterloo to try to get to Salisbury that evening but the snow might have prevented that.
      Watching Newsnight these two guys have travelled extensively in Europe. I think they are couriers. They could have brought travel documents to give to Yulia that she didn’t want found on her.

    2. One thing strikes me as unlikely . The two men seen to have only hand luggage . Now a bottle of perfume cannot pass airport control inside a box and a box that was found wrapped . It needs to be out and pass x-ray inside a transparent zip bag . Of course they could have dispatched their carry-on bags in the hold but it doesn’t seem like it somehow.

      The hotel date makes zero sense as it makes zero sense that they did not give the OPCW samples of the innocuous novichok they claimed to have found there as it is also nonsensical and reckless they didn’t advise the public of it at the time .

      This fable has been devised for a long time and this final episode was merely being held until the OPCW Amesbury report was out . These men seek to be well framed patsies .

  39. Didn’t Mr Fawlty consider calling London’s Finest to give em
    a heads up on two Russians staying in his hotel.
    Didn’t he see any tv or hear talk from staff-guests.

    Very Strange?

    Basil!……Coming Dear……………..

  40. Just been reading Luke Harding and he states the same thing I have read on here – leave Waterloo 8.05 arrive 11.48. That is not right that train would get in at 9.36.
    Am I missing something?

  41. Just a quick reply with my thoughts as it’s latee and I’m tired.

    I’ve read through all the new posts since I last posted on this page, and also a few news articles including some from Russia.

    To me, much of this latest news makes a certain sense. The two Russians, who may equally be Ukrainians, could well be the patsies used by Group X to arrange Yulia’s kidnapping soon after the Skripals left the Mill pub at around 3pm. (I still feel that X’s target was Yulia only, for the plan was to separate them). Hence image from Fisherton Street bridge CCTV, yet no CCTV evidence indicating they went near Christie Miller road – because they never did. Their amateurish behaviour certainly doesn’t indicate genuine GRU or FSB operatives. Besides, they would normally operate under diplomatic cover from the Russian embassy or RTD Highgate or even the embassy in Dublin, rather than fly in to perform their assigned task and then fly out again, but paid patsies WOULD do it in this way.

    In fact, so far this news largely supports my current theory, and these two were the masked patsies who wrecked the plan of 6.

    1. Let’s throw Romanian into the mix as well (along with Russian or Ukrainian). The UK’s next large scale chemical weapons exercise will be held in Romania and will be called Scorpion’s Sting (brings to mind some kind of “revenge”, sting in the tail). Other stuff is happening with Romania, British Typhoon jets scrambled from there to intercept Russian planes and so on. Therefore it’s not beyond reason that a few Romanians were invited over to Salisbury for Operation Toxic Dagger back in February-March. And there was talk of a Mercedes with Romanian license plates outside Skripal’s house in the weeks leading up to the incident.

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6003261/Mercedes-Romanian-number-plates-seen-near-poisoned-Russian-spy-Sergei-Skripals-house.html

      1. The situation in România is very worrying with the RAF aircraft policing the skies there from the Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase in the south intercepting Russian planes over the Black Sea (the original Mihail Kogălniceanu would be ‘turning in his grave’ !), with much US military activity, the USAF spending 40m dollars on upgrading the Câmpia Turzii airbase in the north and the planned hosting of drones there, seemingly endless NATO exercises, NATO air defence radar at Bârnova, NATO missiles at Deveselu, etc. None of this was what the revolutionaries of 1989 would have wanted ! This taking over of the country by Western interests began in earnest in 2003 with a ‘black site’ being set up in București by the CIA for use in their illegal ‘rendition’ programme. România was fined €100,000 by the ECHR for violating human rights, causing a sense of great shame among the ordinary people and a stain on the country.
        https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-torture-romania-lithuania-europe-court-human-rights-abu-zubaydah-abd-alrahim-alnashiri-a8378236.html

        It all sickens me, and now NATO have their sights on the Republic of Moldova. This will happen if Moldova ever join the EU. It will cause a war in with Găgăuzia, the autonomous territory who strongly support Russia, and would cause another war with the PMR (Transnistria/Pridnestrovye). We can do without all this.

        NATO were very quick to break their promise not to expand East :

        “Some have tried to debunk the view that the West implicitly or explicitly promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand east after German reunification and dissolution of the Warsaw Pact). These claims are misleading and obfuscate the historical record of at least a clear understanding, if not promise that there should be no NATO expansion eastward in any way, shape or form. At the very least the West made a implied commitment not to expand NATO east. It is more precise to say, however, that the West gave an explicit verbal, that is, unwritten guarantee not to expand NATO beyond a united Germany; something both sides understood. This broken promise or understanding and the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders has led now to the misnamed ‘new cold war.’ ”
        https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/01/09/broken-promise-nato-expansion-and-end-cold-war.html

        They have no ethics, and should have been disbanded at the same as the Warsaw Pact. They cheated and I despise all they stand for.

  42. “Russian ‘Agents’ Pull Off New Miracle!!!!” – Fill in name of any rag needing bait and clicks.

    [or how not to Photoshop]

    Miracle 1 – http://www.moonofalabama.org/images6/novishot1.jpg

    Miracle 2 – http://www.moonofalabama.org/images6/novishot2.jpg

    Noteworthy:

    a) – 2 men, 2 different moments in time, 1 single [same] time stamp.

    b) CCTV camera ‘miraculously’ tilts itself within same time stamp

    Theresa May, “I also have 2 bridges for sale…”

    1. Also note:

      1) – When it comes to presenting the ‘enemy’ we show you crispy clear, 4K, CCTV pictures [with cameras present every other 2 steps] and an endless stream of them.

      2) – When it comes to show you evidence of ‘our side’ of the [ever evolving] story, we provide a couple of blurry, vague, -2K, throwaway camera, crap, and hope for the best [please believe us!!!].

      1. Oh, and get this, it took us only 6 months to find pictures of our ‘enemy.”

        How’s that for [taxpayers funded] efficiency?

        1. Who wants to hear the captain of a plane proclaim, “We’re ‘almost certainly’ going to land on the tarmac…”?

  43. To be honest, if the Russians don’t react now, I don’t believe them anymore. They now have names and photos and so they can at least provide their findings!

    1. But they don’t have their real names. We are told that the names given were false – not sure how that has been verified being that the UK Govt is refusing to liaise with the Russians; maybe British Embassy staff in Russia have been able to make their own local enquiries. But the UK authorities should have their fingerprints as anyone from Russia applying for a British immigration visa has to provide fingerprints. It remains to be seen whether those fingerprints – which presumably are being held by British Embassy staff in Russia – will be passed on to the Russian authorities to cross-check their records.

      1. All true, but at least they should tell us if those guys where on the flight to London and provide CCTV footage from Moscow airport.

        If those guys where really GRU Moscow will not provide any high-res images I guess. Another question of course is if the two men are GRU but with a different order.

        In my opinion it’s all about how Moscow reacts now.

        1. “In my opinion it’s all about how Moscow reacts now.”

          Not necessarily, the Russians seem to put a lot of faith in Napolean’s famous maxim: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”.

          The Russians don’t emotional and play a very long game. Right now they need peace and quiet while they build up their strength and the last thing they need is to engage in a fight with an arrogant bully.

          I think a scene from the film Get Shorty is the most apposite: John Travolta, Shorty, is intimidated by one of his detractors heavies stood above him on some stairs. Shorty tries to be nice, then grabs the bullies testicles, game over. I’m inclined to think Putin is too much the gentleman to resort to Trump like measures when dealing with Terrisa May, but you never know…

    2. http://tass.com/politics/1020148
      The UK must provide fingerprints of the suspects in the Skripal case to Interpol, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Wednesday on the Rossiya-1 channel.
      “We should start the conversation with facts, that is, with fingerprints. If according to the British side, these people have come from Russia, they must have received British visas, so, please, “fingers at the table”. Because none of us can work without Interpol here,” the diplomat stressed.
      Earlier, she stated that British Ambassador to Moscow Laurie Bristow declined to provide the fingerprints to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

  45. Theresa May back in school today with her chums.
    In 24hrs weave had Mr Rowley and his convenient
    meningitis [If True I Apologise And Its Very Sad But
    We Have All Been Told A Lot Of Lies]
    A Rubbish OPCW Report and now Two G.R.U Agents
    Who Are Russian..Shocking-Outrage!
    Met Police know everything about them but think they
    travelled under false names and are both about 40ish.

    Don’t know much then do they
    Timings!

  46. “Firstly, the word Novichok is something which Boris Johnson et al appear to have sucked out of their thumbs back in March”

    Well, maybe not of their thumbs… Their script inventor might simply have gotten the idea while watching episodes 50 and 51 of the Strike Back TV-series, which both include Novichok as part of the story. Episode 52 does also include Novichok, but it wasn’t aired until March 9th. Or maybe the script inventor also was part of the Strike Back production…?

    https://twitter.com/NinaByzantina/status/974367784544043008/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E974367784544043008%7Ctwgr%5E373939313b73706563696669635f73706f7274735f616374696f6e&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F437704-red-heat-salisbury-uk-russia%2F

  47. Well, Mr Putin, now I am really disappointed of you. Your employees have ignored rules 1 and 2 for such orders:
    1) Do not use passports from your home country even if they are not genuine.
    2) Do not fly directly from or to your home country.

    How to do it better, you can see with pleasure with the colleagues:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251581/Mahmoud-al-Mabhouh-assassination-Innocent-Britons-named-Mossad-killers.html

    Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator

  48. Just wanted to put some context around some of the (remarkably clear for once) CCTV pictures of the two men who have been named (although it may not be their real names), by the Met today.

    http://news.met.police.uk/news/counter-terrorism-police-release-images-of-two-suspects-in-connection-with-salisbury-attack-320534

    Firstly, it is definitely possible to get from the train station to the garage on Wilton Road in 10 minutes (11:48 – 11:58). Bit of a brisk trot, but doable I think.

    Secondly, this is certainly the way that I would go to Christie Miller Road from the train station, if I were that way inclined.

    Thirdly, the oddest thing about it is why they are then seen in Fisherton Street, on the bridge opposite The Mill pub at 13:05. If they were professional hitmen, come to do the job they are supposed to have done, they’d have gone to the house, dosed the door handle (well, it’s unlikely that professional hitmen would ever try to assassinate someone that way), and then gone back to the train station. Oh, and they’d have done it at night, not at 12 o’clock during the day. But instead, they appear to have gone into town (which is a good 25-30 minute walk from Christie Miller Road). Investigators need to explain why they did this. And dumping a bottle won’t do. They’re pros, remember. Why would they walk into town, in broad daylight, exposing themselves to more CCTV? And there are bins between Christie Miller Road and the train station. So there must have been a reason.

    But the picture I find most interesting is the one at 13:08. It is interesting for four reasons.

    Firstly, they appear to have stopped walking at that point, and appear to look a little bit lost. They look a little bit like tourists, rather than trained assassins, and one of them has his hand up as if he’s trying to sight something afar off.

    Secondly, this is on the opposite side to the one they were on at 13:05. Why is this a bit odd? Because you don’t need to cross the road from the side they were on (on the bridge) if you are heading to the station. Crossing the road, which the CCTV shows they did, just means having to cross back over again to get to the station a bit further up. Didn’t they remember which side of the road they needed to be on when they were walking from Christie Miller Road to the town centre?

    Thirdly, the image is taken at 13:08, and the next image is at 13:50 at the train station. Again, unless these guys were doing some shopping, this is faintly ridiculous. I could walk from there to the station in about 5 minutes, and with the next train at 13:27, you would have expected them to get that one to get out as quickly as possible, rather than wait for the one at 14:27. And so why did they only get to the station at 13:50? What were they doing in between?

    But the final reason it is of interest, is that the road they are standing next to (going to the right) is the road that Mr Skripal’s car would have had to drive down to get to Sainsbury’s car park. He apparently parked his car at approximately 13:40 (according to the official timeline). It is easily doable to walk from that car park, or from the road they are standing next to, in less than ten minutes.

    Not sure whether there’s anything in this, but I can assure you of a number of things:

    1. Pro assassins don’t go and take in the sights without reason
    2. They don’t hang around and get later trains without reason
    3. Crossing the road at the bridge is not the way any normal person would take to get to the station
    4. And I can most definitely assure you that it doesn’t take 42 minutes to get from that junction to the station. That’s 35 minutes or so too long. So what were they doing during that time?

    1. “Oh, and they’d have done it at night, not at 12 o’clock during the day.”

      Agreed.

      And here’s the thing – anyone writing a script for the Skripal poisoning involving two willing patsies (for argument’s sake) would likely choose night-time as well, as they would look far more guilty having a gander in the vicinity at night.

      It could be that these men were neither there to kill Sergei, nor taking part willingly in a staged event. And that they were there for another reason.

    2. And Catherine Street should be taken into account. The assassins went there to dump the extra perfume/Novichok bottle.

  49. I don’t believe any of the official version of this saga but something has to be asked :

    These two men seem to really have gone to Salisbury on said dates and seem to have arrived in London on said dates .

    Why were they there and bearing in mind that they had absolutely no time to check Skripal’ s routine , that an MI6 former agent and also a former Russian agent must be under British intelligence comprehensive surveillance including video , which leaves no chance for these men to scrub novichok in the door handle undetected .!Also bearing in mind they do so staying in a budget hotel in London and travel up and down to Salisbury by public transport during the chaos of the snow days and without any fear of being caught on cctv .

    Since I don’t believe the official version , never will , one thing remains . These men were asked to be in Salisbury by someone so that they could be shown on certain locations and presented as the guilty assassins . They may be MI6 assets , afterall salisbury seems to be spy central , they may have been enticed for an unrelated job interview , etc . But professional or amateur assassins they are not .

    the fact that the OPCW report came out yesterday and that crazy summary was presented to the public ( on uk representative request ) is not a coincidence .

    1. Excellent question to ask even though there can only be speculation and not answers until Russia offers more info on their position viz-a-viz these two men.

      Sergei Skripal himself was in the GRU but working for British intelligence. So even if those two suspects do end up being GRU… who were they working for? Or were they doing something other than attempting assassination? Did they meet Sergei and talk to him? Did Sergei then have another meeting with his handlers for debriefing?

      We need to hear from Russia. And Putin did say let’s wait until the investigation is concluded, so hopefully it will happen soon.

      1. And something else : according to this official version they would be in the Skripals house at around 1205, novichoking the door handle . So the Skripals were either at home or they had to come back home and left again between 1205 and 1310 in order to get contaminated . Why do the police then ask for a timeline of their movements up to 1330 when they have the Skripals available to tell them and say ” we went home at ” or ” we were home ” .

        Someone else mentioned visas and biometric data and that’s true . The passports and visa will have all your info so the police know exactly who they are , their fingerprints , their iris .

        Going back to my former point , had I to work in Salisbury for only a few hours on two days I would do the same . Book myself in budget accommodation in London so I can enjoy the city and do some shopping instead of getting accommodation in Salisbury .

        Speculating , these men were well framed to be there and be on cctv . Patsies and I can only hope that Russia finds them and gets the truth out . But with surnames like smith it’s not going to be easy to find them .

    2. Or, they may have been known to Sergei (or Yulia) and paying a visit for some reason other than “Oh, hello Sergei, we are here to bump you off on Vlad’s order. Now, stand still while we spray you with this very slow acting chemical weapon.”.

      I still can’t figure why they call our PM May – because she always does, there’s no may about it.

      1. Great point Cascadian

        The thing is is ; how did they know the Skripals were out before they sprayed the door handle?

        They could have knocked on and hoped to get Mr Skripal answering the door and sprayed him in the face. Whilst Yulia was dying her hair blonde.

        Instead they ( or one of them ) smeared a gel ( let’s not forget the gel ) onto the door handle whilst the other kept an eye out for witnesses.

        So , did any neighbours witness a version of Mr Blobby in a Bio – Hazard suit in the area accompanied by a lookout who had a beard like Noel Edmunds?

        Simply because the application of this Novichock OR nerve agent is highly dangerous? So dangerous that you could literally die from it very quickly or very slowly depending on weather conditions.

        That applies to the assailant as much as the victims.

        Or they could have lured Mr Skripal into a false sense of security by asking Mr Skripal as to whether he had considered ” letting God into his life ? ”

        Jehovah’s Witnesses are persistent – but even for myself that is a parody too far.

        Personally I think it was in a drink – or a meal or a cigarette or twt – or four – or five ( DSB).

        Who knows perhaps the maddest scenario is the right answer.

        No -ones theory is weirder than the governments theory and that’s for sure.

  50. So, from Skripal’s house, the assassins went to Catherine Street to dump their extra perfume bottle into a bin and then turned back to Fisherton Road to head to the station.

    What for did they make an across-town trip from Christie Miller Road to Catherine Street? Their favorite bin?
    Where are CCTV stills from around Catherine Street?

    1. You are right, both images shouldn’t have the identical date stamp. also you would expect both to appear on the photo, if only one behind the other.

    2. These Russian teams are very synchronized. Also, the camera angle differs between the photos. Are these two different jetways from the aircraft or control chutes prior to customs?

    3. Well, both of the timestamps can’t be real.

      Is the hallway these two men are shown walking through real? Oddest looking airport hallway I’ve ever seen.

      1. More photo strangeness. I’m using the Police photo names – CC TVx, where x is the number.
        1 and 2 – Friday, arriving Gatwick, captioned 15:00hrs but timestamp has same 16:22:43 for both.
        3 – Saturday, leaving Salisbury at train station, timestamp and caption match. Note there is no station arrival photo.
        4 – Sunday, arriving Salisbury at train station, no timestamp, captioned 11:48:20.
        5 – Sunday, Wilton Road, timestamp and caption match at 11:58.
        6 – Sunday, Fisherton Road, no timestamp, captioned 13:05.
        7 – Sunday, Fisherton Road – Rear, no timestamp, captioned 13:08.
        8 – Sunday, leaving Salisbury at train station, no timestamp, captioned 13:50.
        9 – Sunday, Heathrow, no timestamp, captioned 19:28.

        Is it usual for CCTV images to have no timestamps, as the majority do here?

  52. All that fuss over where the Skrypals were on the Sunday morning, they were at home after all. Lucky for our would be assassins who can’t have contaminated the door knob before 12.10pm that the Skrypals were at home and would be going out shortly afterwards for lunch.

  53. Some thoughts about what the MET (through Neil Basu) and Theresa May have stated today. Some of these will no doubt have been mentioned or touched upon by others either here or in other forums:

    The theory that the rain washed most of the nerve agent off the door handle overnight is no longer plausible if the two suspects were indeed the wannabe assassins, given that the MET believes the door handle was targeted by these two suspects moments after 11:58 AM on Sunday.

    Neil Basu washed his hands like Pilate today, in his statement, in quoting Theresa May as saying the Russian State was responsible, and then asking for the public’s help. For some reason he did not state whether he agreed with May or not. And he didn’t mention “GRU” in his statement. In May’s statement, we heard that evidence of the suspects being GRU, is “classified”. So it would appear they don’t intend to prove they are GRU, they will simply have a trial and charge them, and then continue adding “GRU” outside the court, through statements in the Commons, with Parliamentary privilege, and through the media, to set it in the public’s minds that they were GRU.

    We’re being asked to believe that the Russian State asked/greenlighted two of their assassins to travel direct from Moscow to Heathrow, and return from Heathrow direct to Moscow. Not only that, but they were instructed to use their Russian passports instead of fake foreign ID. Interestingly, it is the MET itself who’ve brought up that they may have other aliases. Perfectly plausible of course, but then why didn’t they use a foreign alias? It is also handy for them to bring that up, because if any proof surfaces of these two guys not being GRU, or even Russian, the MET and intelligence services can say “Well, we were led to believe that they were Russian, and had no evidence of otherwise, but remember we did warn they may have other aliases.”

    The nerve agent was discovered on May 4th, in a hotel room. In their hotel room. Yet the hotel was not immediately evacuated and sealed off to undertake a thorough investigation, and to prevent any possible harm to the public. We are then told that only very little traces of it were found (enough to point the finger at the two suspects…) and that all of it was actually cleaned off by the very swabs used to compile samples for testing, so further swabs showed up nothing, therefore no need to invite the OPCW to the hotel, cause “you won’t find anything”.

  54. If they checked-out of their hotel on Sunday morning, went to Salisbury, and then up to Heathrow, then where is their luggage?

    They’ve both changed their clothes, shoes, jackets, hats, over the weekend. So did they leave luggage behind at the hotel?

    1. Indeed. The airport arrival photos show Petrov with one shoulder bag – blue with grey strap. Boshirov has two shoulder bags: one brown and a larger black one. No backpack on either man.

      In the departing photo at Heathrow, Petrov has his shoulder bag and a rolling suitcase – likely a checked bag. Boshirov is much less clear but appears to have the backpack and his black bag. I can’t tell he has the brown bag.

      1. “In the departing photo at Heathrow, Petrov has his shoulder bag and a rolling suitcase”

        Hi David – which photo shows a rolling suitcase, please?

        1. True. In the airport arrival photo, Petrov could be pushing the suitcase (not visible) with his right hand, although his hand seems stretched wider than would be needed for a handle. Perhaps he is holding the black knit cap over the handle.

          That only leaves the backpack unaccounted for at arrival. As Jo says, they could’ve bought it or brought it in one of the other bags.Which makes sense, if it’s the assassin’s kit but then why carry it through Heathrow to home?

  55. The visa thing

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/salisbury-novichok-poisoning-live-updates-13195479
    “British police may have key biological information of the two Russian Novichok suspects named Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

    Both needed a British visa to travel to the UK.

    Even if the names are aliases, antiterrorist police are expected to hold their genuine fingerprints and iris data, which could ultimately lead to them being unmasked.

    Biometric data is required from all Russians applying for British visas.

    The announcement today also did not give the patronymics of the pair who are said to be aged around 40.

    Patronymics are middle names but for Russians they denote the father’s name.

    If the names are genuine, the information could be useful to finding the pair.

    The GRU agents’ visa applications would have included an up to date and clear picture, and the British authorities would also have the pair’s passport photographs – none of which has been released today.

    They would have had to declare their dates of birth, address, job and banking details – likely including a recent statement – which could expose the extent of the suspected intelligence agents’ lies in entering Britain.

    The men would also have had to declare the identities of close relatives.

    They would also have been required to list previous recent trips to the Britain and other Western countries.”

    I suppose you also have to state the reason for travel and give your Russian passport number – which would make it possible for Russia to respond.

    So the police had all this on May 4 when they searched the hotel?

    1. Anidea writes: “…the British authorities would also have the pair’s passport photographs – none of which has been released today.”

      Yes, this is unclear at the moment. The Met police statement at 11.15 BST today says: “We are releasing these photographs of them, from the travel documents they used to enter the country.”

      The Met statement includes 15 photos. The first two photos look like passport photos to me (note one is wearing collar and tie). But then in their explanation of the photos the police appear to have numbered them incorrectly. Looks like the police have made a mistake. I think the first two photos are passport or visa photos.

      http://news.met.police.uk/news/counter-terrorism-police-release-images-of-two-suspects-in-connection-with-salisbury-attack-320534

  56. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/05/guests-two-star-london-hotel-salisbury-suspects-stayed-told/

    “Officers did not search their room until May 4 – two months after the Skripals were discovered unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury – but when they did, they found traces of Novichok.

    Scotland Yard said there is no risk to other guests, and on Wednesday police officers guarded the £48-a-night hotel, which is situated a few feet away from the Bow Church DLR station. ”

    May 4?

    1. So they knew who they were looking for way before Dawn and Charlie’s poisoning. Serious questions to be answered here.

    1. From Basu’s statement, regarding Charlie Rowley:
      “Previously, during a search of Charlie’s home address in Muggleton Road on 10 July a small box labelled as Nina Ricci Premier Jour was recovered from a rubbish bag in the kitchen. On 11 July a small glass bottle with a modified nozzle was found on a kitchen worktop.”

      It took the police 10 days from the Sturgess/Rowley incident to find the perfume box in a rubbish bag in the kitchen and another day to find the bottle and nozzle, in the same kitchen, on a counter top. One more unbelievable statement from the government.

      1. Exactly,

        Police are in Charlie’s place looking for a container.
        It takes a day to find a small bottle on a worktop.
        Remember, this was the “less pure” nerve agent.

        “Charlie told police he found a box he thought contained perfume in a charity bin on Wednesday, 27 June. Inside the box was a bottle and applicator. He tried to put the two parts together at his home address on Saturday, 30 June, and in doing so got some of the contents on himself. He said Dawn had applied some of the substance to her wrists before feeling unwell.

        After Charlie told police where he found the box, cordons were put in place and two bins behind shops in Catherine Street, Salisbury, were removed.

        Previously, during a search of Charlie’s home address in Muggleton Road on 10 July a small box labelled as Nina Ricci Premier Jour was recovered from a rubbish bag in the kitchen. On 11 July a small glass bottle with a modified nozzle was found on a kitchen worktop. Tests undertaken at DSTL established the bottle contained a significant amount of Novichok.”

    2. There’s a blatant untruth in his statement as we know that the OPCW report summary states precisely the opposite – that they cannot say these are from same batch – of the below excerpt :

      “Firstly, our own analysis, and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague, has confirmed that the same type of Novichok was used in both cases.”

  58. they would have had fun travelling by train that weekend, extensive cancellations and revised timetable due to weather.

    1. Norfolk,
      That’s a fair point.
      If Sunday was the “kill” day, then why risk weather or the UK rail system?
      London to Salisbury is only 70 miles or so.
      Maybe as trained spies they could not drive on the left of the road, although it is motorway and dual carriageway almost all of the way.
      Lets say these two chaps were indeed part of operation 1.
      If they had to get to the Skripal house for some time between noon and 1:30pm, then they were quite reckless in relying on a train that arrives in Salisbury at 11:48am.

      Maybe they had the meeting planned with Sergie later in that afternoon. However, they left Salisbury at 13:50pm.

      So the timeline for the door handle at 1pm fits the narrative.
      Wilton Road on the way at 11:58am and Fisherton Rd at 13:08 on the way back to the station.

      This means, (if the CCTV and timestamp are correct) that they were at the station heading back to London, just when Sergei and Yulia were feeding the ducks with the boys.

      13:08 – 13:50 Plant or discard the perfume bottle?

      Not having a car does seem strange. Relying on the UK public transport system for your approach and getaway seems to leave too much to chance and serendipity.
      Maybe that is the way espionage now is.
      Why not head to Salisbury and stay there Saturday night?
      As mentioned, they don’t seem to have made much effort to stay out of CCTV cameras. So having checked into a Salisbury hotel would not be a risk.

      1. the cctv picture at the railway station. They are inside the station, presumably on their way home at 16.11, looking out, conveniently for the cameras. What are they looking at? Why have you gone into the station and then stopped to look out? Is this the main entrance to Salisbury station?

        1. Good questions, Norfolk Eagle. This is the photo labelled, “CC TV3,” on Saturday, 03 March. It does seem a strange pose for people catching a train, after a quick, 105 minute reconnaissance of Salisbury.. Note that there is no photo of them arriving in the station on Saturday at 14:25.

  59. In all the revelations relating to the ‘новичок’ affair, there is always a geopolitical context and the one phrase that always springs to mind is “Timing is everything”.

    So, you ask, was that an adlib comment? No, I say, it was an Idlib comment.

    Not only that, but, for two supposed GRU agents intent on assassinating one who was previously one of their own, doesn’t it seem strange that they would be strolling about in broad daylight, happily revealing themselves to CCTV in critical (to the narrative) locations?? It seems just a little bit reckless, don’t you think?. Or supremely arrogant, but that isn’t a term I would use to describe Russians.

    1. I think the intent behind the latest revelations is to undermine Russia’s authority on the UN Security Council. The next Syrian false flag (almost certainly the on being set up for Idlib) will be taken to the UNSEC to demand a mandate for the full shock and awe attack on Syria a la Iraq, Russia will definitely veto that, but this latest revelation will be used to persuade the other members that they should ignore Russia.

      I wonder if anyone has been paying attention to the logistics of FUKUS materiel?

  60. @ Liane I don’t see it that way – No murder charge – Sergei is alive one – conspiricy charge and one attempted murder charge
    “@All – how would you read this statement of Sue Hemming, the CPS director of legal services :
    “Those offences include conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; … and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.”
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/salisbury-poisonings-police-name-and-charge-two-suspects

    I interpret it that Sergei is dead.”

    1. I have not yet looked thouroughly at all the news, but what you quoted indeed may be interpreted that Sergei is dead. I don’t know what to think.

  61. Looking at the Met Police photos, the Russians somewhat changed wardrobes between Saturday and Sunday, 03-04 March.

    03 March
    Boshirov – with goatee – black quilted jacket, black knit cap with possibly triangular gold/white logo visible, black and white sneakers (trainers, I believe is the British term.)
    Petrov – blue quilted jacket, grey knit cap, black and white sneakers.
    No backpack on either man.

    04 March
    Boshirov – same jacket, baseball cap with undecipherable writing on it, brown pointed boots.
    Petrov – blue/black jacket, black knit cap – could be same as Boshirov from prior day but logo seems more rectangular, grey sneakers.
    A grey/green backpack is alternately carried by each man.

    In the arriving airport photos on 02 March, both men have messenger-style bags. Mysteriously, here are no photos of them at Heathrow when they supposedly flew out on 04 March.

    1. My mistake, there is a photo of them at Heathrow. Petrov is wearing yet another jacket, a lighter weight grey one that appears to be the same one he’s wearing under the unzipped blue quilted jacket in the arrival picture on 02 March.

  62. Rob,

    From the Station to the Skripal home is just over a mile.
    I suppose secret agents are trained to walk to be as visible as possible.
    On the Wilton Road, how far is the nearest known CCTV camera from the Skripal home?

    Wilton Road 11:58am On their way to the House?
    Fisherton Road at 13:05 on Sunday March 4th. On their way from the House?

    https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/727725/Salisbury-Novichok-attack-poisoning-suspects-Russian-Aeroflot-Gatwick-Heathrow

    1. The photo in the train station, with Boshirov carrying the backpack, is stamped 11:48 a.m. Is 10 minutes enough time to walk from the station to that CCTV location on Wilton Road?

        1. Rob – if this image is from the Shell station at 133 Wilton Road (determined from the maps in the twitter link) it is 0.8 miles and a 17 minute walk along Wilton Road from the train station, according to Google Maps. I would think that it would take a very fast walking pace, nearly a jog, to cover that distance in 10 minutes. It’s plausible but it’d be more definitive if we were shown images of them between those two locations.

  63. Let me reiterate the main point of the quick comment I made before:

    The police say there is CCTV footage of the pair near Mr Skripal’s house. I haven’t seen that yet. What I have seen is CCTV footage of them about 40-50 yards from The Mill! Probably on the Sunday.

    The Mill is nowhere near Christie Miller Road, and is in quite the opposite direction coming out of the train station. Are we to believe that after doing their assassin thing, they popped into town to do a little shopping, rather than going straight back to the train station? Strange methods these Russian assassins have!

      2. No need to turn right and go up Canadian Avenue as in that Twitter image. There is a pedestrian footpath on the opposite side across from the Shell garage on Wilton Road. This footpath leads to Montgomery Gardens and then directly onto the Skripal’s cul-de-sac.

        See footpath on the extreme left with the woman and push chair standing to the left of it.

        https://goo.gl/maps/SmceDAqUsY32

  64. PMQs,

    Well, I think we are done.
    European Arrest Warrants, and we will be vigilant less those two chaps wander away from Putin’s coat tails.

    End of the story.

  65. The latest OPCW report states this: “The toxic chemical compound, which displays the toxic properties of a nerve agent…”

    If the OPCW’s analysis showed that the toxic chemical WAS in fact a nerve agent, then the report would have clearly stated “The toxic chemical compound was determined to be a nerve agent”

    The fact that they can only say that it displays the properties of a nerve agent strongly suggests either that they know that it is NOT actually a nerve agent, or that they do not actually know what the substance is.

    I think the OPCW need to be strongly challenged on this point. Any reporters out there willing to clear this up with the OPCW? The phrasing used really does feel like the OPCW is playing games with words and deliberately obfuscating the true meaning. All this leads to reduced trust in the OPCW.

    1. Good point. It’s like the DSTL analyst who said under oath it’s a ‘nerve agent or related compound’. Covering their backsides, I guess, knowing that the substance wasn’t actually a nerve agent.

  66. The earliest they could get to Salisbury was 9.45 a.m. what a bit of luck the Skripals were out.
    And the trains they travelled in – are they going to the landfill?
    Seeing as they weren’t bothered about parading around in full view and had to stay somewhere why not stay in Salisbury the night?
    Are charity shop dumpsters only emptied in leap years?
    And does it take six months to find two guys who arrived the day before and left the same day? You don’t need a super recogniser.
    And no application to Russia for extradition. So no evidence shown.

    1. And, are Ukranians reverting to Russians these days. My my the mobsters are having it hard recruiting good operatives these days.

  67. Some very brief comments on the naming of the two men in connection with the case:

    1. Good to see that the Salisbury CCTV system was working after all, and that it managed to produce the only clear images in the case so far.

    2. It is said that the two men were seen on CCTV in the vicinity of Mr Skripal’s house. In which case, why has CCTV of that not been released. Instead, the only images I’ve seen so far are of them at the Salisbury train station, and the other at Fisherton Street bridge.

    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201809051067763246-uk-prosecution-skripals-suspects/

    This is interesting, by the way. This bridge is directly opposite The Mill pub. Furthermore, I would guess, looking at the level of snow on the ground, that this was on the Sunday, when there was a smattering of snow left, whereas on the Saturday, there was significantly more. Of course I could be wrong.

    3. Why are these the first pictures we have seen?

    4. When the counter-terror police went around interviewing people a couple of months back, including my house, I would have expected them to have waved a picture of these two men in front of people. “Did you see these two men?” But there was nothing.

    5. Novichok in the hotel room? When was this discovered, and why was the hotel not cordoned off?

    Other than that, I’m sure it makes perfect sense.

    1. They do seem quite relaxed in the CCTV image and not one bit worried about concealing their identities. They must be the clumsiest assassins on earth.

      If, and a bif if, they are spies , going to Salisbuty makes perfect sense, especially for double MI6 agents, it seems to be their HQ in the UK.

      Speculation aside, none of the CCTV I have seen from today is time stamped.

  68. According to the timeline in the Daily Mail article, the two Russians only spent 105 minutes in Salisbury on Saturday to conduct “reconnaissance .” That hardly seems enough time to plan the attack on the house and subsequent escape. How did they move about the city on that day and the next? By bus, Uber, walking or something else?

    Timeline from the article:
    “Saturday, 3 March: 11am: They left the hotel and took the underground to Waterloo station, arriving at approximately 11.45am.
    2.25pm: Having caught a train to Salisbury from Waterloo, they arrive in the cathedral city, the day before the attack.
    4.10pm: After carrying out what police believe was reconnaissance of the Salisbury area, they leave the city and return to London
    Sunday, 4 March: 8am: They made the same journey from the hotel, again using the underground from Bow to Waterloo station before continuing their journey by train to Salisbury. CCTV later showed them in the vicinity of Mr Skripal’s house and police believe that they contaminated the front door with Novichok.”

    What CCTV showed them “in the vicinity of Mr. Skripal’s house” and how close to the house does that mean? Police released CCTV of them in Salisbury, why don’t they release these pictures?

  69. I wonder if it’s possible to get a look at the charge sheets and european arrest warrants for the two Russians – surely they would have to contain a precise description of the toxic chemical/agent.

  70. @All – how would you read this statement of Sue Hemming, the CPS director of legal services :

    “Those offences include conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; … and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.”
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/salisbury-poisonings-police-name-and-charge-two-suspects

    I interpret it that Sergei is dead.

    1. I interpret that as Sergei was the sole intended target, not neccessarily that he is dead.
      The timing of this comes as no surprise, another false flag in syria looming.
      If the CPS did seek extradition would they have to show evidence?

    2. what happened to the rucksack? in the photo from Fisherton Road one is definitely wearing a rucksack which does not seem to be there in the photo from Wilton Road

      1. Very interesting observation Norfolk Eagle. He has no rucksack on the Wilton Road, at 11:58am, but has one (almost certainly later that same day), on Fisherton Street, opposite The Mill, and walking in the direction of the train station. Almost like he got that from somewhere!

        One thing I’m troubled by, is the vagueness of the timeline (not for the first time). The timeline I have seen for March 3rd has specific times:

        11am: They left the hotel and took the underground to Waterloo station, arriving at approximately 11.45am.
        2.25pm: Having caught a train to Salisbury from Waterloo, they arrive in the cathedral city, the day before the attack.
        4.10pm: After carrying out what police believe was reconnaissance of the Salisbury area, they leave the city and return to London

        Compare this with 4 March:

        8am: They made the same journey from the hotel, again using the underground from Bow to Waterloo station before continuing their journey by train to Salisbury. CCTV later showed them in the vicinity of Mr Skripal’s house and police believe that they contaminated the front door with Novichok.

        Much more vague, and most crucially, mentions nothing of the afternoon. Was that because they were “shopping” in Salisbury City Centre after their professional hit job?

      2. The men took turns carrying it – I think Boshirov in the black jacket has it and the view is blocked by Petrov in this photo.

        1. Specifically, you can see part of the right (far) shoulder strap on Boshirov and he had it in the train station arrival photo.

      3. Baseball cap guy has the backpack. If you download the Met Police image and zoom in you can see the backpack strap on his right shoulder.

  71. A few things that jump at me as highly unlikely in the charging intentions of the 2 russians.

    1 – Neil Basu says they arrived in London Heathrow on March the 2nd and they left on March 4th

    That is all very well but most flights to and from London Heathrow were cancelled on this day because of the Snow and the actual BEast from the East Storm that arrived on the Brittish Isles precisely on that day.

    2 -I find this next one hilarious and tragic . It says a lot of what the police and governments think of people, that we are total idiots:

    “Tests were carried out in the hotel room where the suspects had stayed. Two swabs showed contamination of Novichok of levels below that which would cause concern for public health,” Basu added. ”

    So they contaminate a hotel room with novichok and nothing happens to the alleged killers or to the people that stayed there and the explanation is that it was only a tiny bit of Novichok. ! Pull the other one.

    3 -That they travelled with authentic passports but were using aliases and have travelled to the UK and Europe quite a lot. Which is it? They travelled with authentic passports or they travelled with fake passports on many occasions and were never stopped by immigration on both countries?

    This has now become very serious deceit indeed and the police is complicit in it.

    4 -The police were careful enough to state that the perfume box is a FAKE Nina Ricci perfume, just in case they have to answer questions to the brand.

    5 -That they are trying to convince us that two trainned assassins would travel close to the dates of Yulia Skripal, would bring the poison with them in the aircraft and are so clumsy they stay in a hotel where they can be traced and manage to leave a trail of novichok there without offing themselves and then dispose of a whole and packaged bottle of perfume. They obviously brought spare novichok with them…

    2. “Two swabs showed contamination of Novichok of levels below that which would cause concern for public health”

      Zero novichok would be “below that which would cause concern for public health”

      The poisoned perfume only makes sense if it was from a second bottle placed in a cache for later use. Not that it makes much sense even then. So are there saying there was only one bottle?

  72. From Duncan, yesterday afternoon.
    Posted on the Blogmire

    “What’s next?
    In a short time, the photofit ID of the Novichok gang will be released.
    Extradition will be attempted, but the masterful Mr. Putin will cunningly say “No”.
    After that?
    Nothing”

  73. I really cannot participate in a discussion about photoshop, editing, altering.

    The conspiracy needed would be huge. And for what gain?

    These are real assassins. The POINT is, for who?

    Don’t take your eye off the ball on wild goose chases about edited images and other rubbish.

    Please, please, drop the tin foil hat nonsense.

    1. Jo, with all respect, when I see “tin foil hat” being wheeled out it seems like an attempt to close down discussion.
      These two men named by the CPS are presently innocent in law, not “assassins”.

    2. Read Craig Murray’s comment on twitter on the quality of the photo.

      With an authentic Russian passport the two would have needed British visa to enter. For those visa the government would have to have high quality photographs.

      Photos are constructed in a way you cannot identify the faces via biometric searches.

      Take away the beard and change the hairline of one guy he looks like the other.

      1. Yes, Craig Murray withdraw. They are still not biometric photos according to visa guidelines
        https://visafoto.com/gb_visa_photo
        They look scanned ie scanned at the airport.
        Not the originals from the visa application.
        The faces are very much the same.
        Face of the guy without the beard on CCTV seems to be different in its proportions – you can check from ear to ear to hairline.
        Might be technical. If they are real, people will know them and remember them flying. Or remember them staying in the hostel.

    4. Thank you Jo. A healthy consideration of all possibilities is worthwhile in the Skripal story. We would not be bothering if the UK state would remove the tin foil hat it has plonked over our heads with their story line. The ‘hate russia’ hysteria has gone way too far and a serious war is imminent over the eradication of murderous terrorists in Syria.

      I gather that is why many of us have our eye on this ball. And yes it is exasperating at times.

      We would not be examining the wrinkles in the tin foil had the UK state apparatus been open communicators and revealed the cctv they had from the beginning.

    1. add: they are supposed to have stayed in London and have come to Salisbury twice.
      One time for reconnaissance, second time for smearing the door.
      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/salisbury-poisonings-police-name-and-charge-two-suspects

      Earliest train connection to Salisbury would mean they are supposed to have done it in plain sight in the morning. Not being sure if a neighbour would touch the door first.

      They are not charged and there is no explanation for the poisoned perfume.

      1. The story at ITV.com says:

        They leave Salisbury and return to Waterloo Station, arriving at approximately 4.45pm and board the London Underground at approximately 6.30pm to London Heathrow Airport.

        The direct train journey takes 1h:28mins so they would have to leave Salisbury around 15:20. If they left London around 8.05am then they had from about 9:30am to 15:20 to do whatever they did.
        I would guess that some of the movements mentioned are real and so are the people. Did they meet the Skripals? Were they just there for totally different reasons? Maybe they are poisoners, but if so, why?

        I notice that the Russian actor, Alexander Petrov looks pretty similar to the Alexander Petrov in these pictures. I assume that is a coincidence.

  76. All kicking off now.

    Nina Ricci is the perfume, which is not Russian.

    Two suspects named.

    Panic story in the Indie about what would happen if it was sprayed at Heathrow.

    Stories about how Charlie’s life is ruined (by the Russians).

    Watch carefully today.

    1. Well I’d say nina Ricci will be quite in the mood for some evidence . The cps better be very careful with any innaccuracies .

  77. This farcical affair has now taken a dangerous turn . The CPS charged or wants to charge two Russians that travelled to uk . They do not say what the evidence is ( they have none i would say ) but put their photos on all press . The OPCW report was vague for a reazon and this is simply outrageous and a violation of due process . What evidence is there ? None .

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6133853/Wanted-Novichok-poisoning-Prosecutors-two-Russians-hunted.html

  78. Now the names of two suspects are out :
    Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
    Police issue arrest warrants for these two Russian nationals following the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
    They are believed to be back in Russia: Met police about to release CCTV of them arriving in London and Salisbury in March.
    Names are believed to be aliases.
    https://twitter.com/simonvigar5/status/1037279279573348352

    What about the woman ?

    1. You mean Teriski Mayov? A good question. She was seen in Salisbury on 15 March – she had been there to collect evidence left behind but was apprehended and unable to finish the job, leaving at least one bottle behind (Nina Ricci apparently). There are several pictures of her being led away by police.

      It is also unclear what has become of Boris Jonsonovits and why the original 4 suspects has been reduced to 2. Johsonovits was obviously the ring-leader as he had knowledge of the poison before anyone else did.

    3. It’s a bit unusual isn’t it for the police to release names and images of MI5’s sleeper agents embedded in Russia?

      😉

      As an aside, many years ago I used to fly from a farm strip and it was very easy to fly a small plane from there to the continent and land at a similar strip without making an mention of it to anyone – if the flight is carried out below 500 feet altitude it is unlikely that a continuous track of the flight could be maintained.

      Secondly, I find these tales of Sergei’s supposed plans to disappear a bit suspect. If I had plans to disappear I certainly wouldn’t engage in such elaborate maneuvres and would instead slip away during the night without a mention to anyone.

      1. Though if you wanted to return to a country where you were in prison and were only released early due to a spy swap you may want to find out your status. Moving to a prison cell may not have been Sergei’s preferred plan.
        Though I don’t know the veracity of the statements that say he was thinking of returning to Russia.

  79. Question to Duncan: Would it be normal practice to add a precursor of BZ (or similar) to a control sample? see below:

    https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/EC/M-59/en/ecm59dg01_e_.pdf

    “As it was clearly shown in the detailed and technical presentation, we should not have an iota of doubt on the reliability of the system of the OPCW Designated Laboratories. The Labs were able to confirm the identity of the chemical by applying existing, well-established procedures. There was no other chemical that was identified by the Labs. The precursor of BZ that is referred to in the public statements, commonly known as 3Q, was contained in the control sample prepared by the OPCW Lab in accordance with the existing quality control procedures. Otherwise it has nothing to do with the samples collected by the OPCW Team in Salisbury. This chemical was reported back to the OPCW by the two designated labs and the findings are duly reflected in the report. “

    Question to Duncan: In layman’s terms, are precursors necessary to “activate” the agent? If so, does this need to be done shortly before deployment? See Craig Murray’s comment in relation to the OPCW report:

    https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/?s=The+Novichok+Story+is+Indeed+Another+Iraqi+WMD+Scam
    Craig Murray, 14th March 2018

    OPCW: Report of the Scientific Advisory Board on developments in science and technology for the Third Review Conference, 27 March 2013

    “Indeed the OPCW was so sceptical of the viability of Novichoks that it decided, with US and UK agreement, not to add them nor their alleged precursors to its banned list. In short, the scientific community broadly accepts Mirzayanov was working on Novichoks but doubts he succeeded.”

    Recommended reading:

    http://syriapropagandamedia.org/working-papers/briefing-note-update-on-the-salisbury-poisonings

    Briefing Note: Update on the Salisbury poisonings, Authors: Professor Paul McKeigue, Professor David Miller and Professor Piers Robinson (piers.robinson@sheffield.ac.uk/+447764763350)

    They also suspect (like me):

    “It is more likely that they were attacked shortly before they were found collapsed on the park bench.”

    My comment: Apparently, although the same “nerve agent” was used in both Salisbury and Amesbury, one took 7 hours before the onset of symptoms (9.15-4.15) but the second only took 30 minutes (after 15 minutes Dawn had to lie down on the bed, emergency services called after 30 minutes)? So Russia has two versions of this “nerve agent”, one slow acting and other fast acting????

    1. So the likely timeline would be

      1. Mills Pub/Zizzis
      2. Feeding the ducks – spy trade craft to look innocent – putting the packed poisoned perfume gift – easy to get through customs on a plane – into a hiding place in the park
      4. Skripals get/have Novichok on their skin
      5. Skripals make it to the bench
      6. Nick Bailey gets Novichok on his skin when visiting Skripal’s home
      The only way to explain most of it, same as with Litvinenko, is to assume that Skripals were not innocent victims.
      However, they are protected by the British state.

    2. Question to Duncan: Would it be normal practice to add a precursor of BZ (or similar) to a control sample? see below:
      Duncan says:
      “I would think that BZ as a control can only be used to determine the enzyme activity of the nerve agent. That means the bioassay part where the acetylcholine esterase “strength” of the OPCW samples are compared with the known strength or activity of a control.
      The molecular structure of BZ is nothing like the predicted structure of Novichok, so adding or using BZ to the analytical determination of the unknown “nerve agent’s” structure or chemical formula.”

      Question to Duncan: In layman’s terms, are precursors necessary to “activate” the agent? If so, does this need to be done shortly before deployment?

      Duncan says:
      I don’t know. I don’t think so. Novichok seems to be stable, and binary to me implies mixing to prepare a final product, so no precursor chemicals involved.

      My comment: Apparently, although the same “nerve agent” was used in both Salisbury and Amesbury, one took 7 hours before the onset of symptoms (9.15-4.15) but the second only took 30 minutes (after 15 minutes Dawn had to lie down on the bed, emergency services called after 30 minutes)? So Russia has two versions of this “nerve agent”, one slow acting and other fast acting????

      Duncan says: As Rob and others have pointed out. There is a major flaw in the reports.
      Salisbury Novichok is purer, more stable than Amesbury Novichok.
      Salisbury Novichok obtained from door handles and tables is high purity.
      Amersbury Novichok stored in inert glass, sealed containers is less pure.
      Is there then a third location with pure Novichok?

      OPCW Highlights below.

      Salisbury Novichok contains no impurities (Clause 11)
      Amesbury Novichok was less pure, (Clause 10) despite being in a glass bottle.

      Salisbury OPCW REPORT

      10. The results of analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury and severely injured three people.

      11. The TAV team notes that the toxic chemical was of high purity. The latter is concluded from the almost complete absence of impurities.

      Amesbury OPCW REPORT

      8. The results of the analysis of biomedical samples conducted by OPCW Designated Laboratories demonstrate that Mr Charles Rowley and Ms Dawn Sturgess were exposed to and intoxicated by this toxic chemical.

      9. During the second deployment, the team collected a sample of the contents of a small bottle that the police seized as a suspect item from the house of Charles Rowley in Amesbury.

      10. The results of the analysis of this environmental sample conducted by OPCW Designated Laboratories show that the sample consists of the toxic chemical at a concentration of 97-98%. The sample is therefore considered a neat agent of high purity. The OPCW Designated Laboratories also identified a number of impurities constituting the remaining 2-3% of the sample.

      11. The results of the analysis conducted by OPCW Designated Laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that intoxicated Mr Charles Rowley and Ms Dawn Sturgess. The toxic chemical compound, which displays the toxic properties of a nerve agent, is the same toxic chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Mr Nicholas Bailey on 4 March 2018 in Salisbury (S/1612/2018, dated 12 April 2018).

      12. Due to the unknown storage conditions of the small bottle found in the house of Mr Rowley and the fact that the environmental samples analysed in relation to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Mr Nicholas Bailey were exposed to the environment and moisture, the impurity profiles of the samples available to the OPCW do not make it possible to draw conclusions as to whether the samples are from the same synthesis batch.

  82. Paul,

    Please read my previous post first.

    I’m glad you agreed with my first paragraph, which to recap said :
    a) Something significant happened in the toilets at the Mill pub.
    b) It may not have been an attack upon Sergei – either by direct poisoning or by passing on poisoned passports.
    c) There is no evidence to say that the Skripals were poisoned.
    d) Nor that the Skripals were in SDH, rather than the decoy couple. In fact there is evidence to suggest the reverse.

    Now for the rest.

    You said: “I too share the belief that ‘something’ happened at The Mill but I am inclined to think that that something was not an ‘attack’ – no statement mentions anything like it. Rather, I think that is where the police ‘lost’ Sergei; the trail ran cold… they know he was there but don’t know what happened afterwards”.

    I’d say they lost both Yulia and Sergei – at least for a while. Yulia is still ‘missing’. Sergei may now even be dead. They didn’t know what happened at the time, but they know a lot more now – although they’re not telling us, for political reasons. The Russians know a lot more too.

    You said: “As far as new passports specifically are concerned, how could he ever use them? If he had ‘run away’ every airport in the country would have been on alert looking for him. He would not have got very far”.

    Quite easily. Believe me, there are ways, passports aren’t necessary and covert exfiltration of agents is a well-established practice. I can’t say much more on this but in these circles almost anything can be done when the need is great enough.

    1. Miheila,

      Yulia was always part of Sergei’s plan. He was sure that his son’s death last year was no accident and he wanted her to be safe. The plan wasn’t ‘changed’ when Yulia arrived; it ‘waited’ until she was there.

      In a covert operation, no passports are needed. That was what happened and no passports were involved. But if Sergei had tried to run away on his own, he would probably have wanted a passport. All I was trying to say is that the idea that ‘new’ fake passports we poisoned does not work (at least for me).

      I don’t believe that Sergei was attacked or kidnapped. Whatever happened, Sergei was the one who took the final decision. He chose the party he went with, he wasn’t forced to go anywhere. Sergei and Yulia walked out of The Mill to safety – just as Sergei had planned. There is a private car park immediately behind The Mill; it is one of very few places with access for cars in the area and almost certainly why The Mill was chosen as the departure point. Sergei and Yulia left The Mill, went straight to the car park and got into a waiting vehicle at 3:30pm on Sunday. By the time Bailey realised the bench couple was not them, they were miles away.

      This is the car park: The Mill is in the centre of the image (the red Google marker is in the wrong place) and the car park is just above it:
      https://www.google.com/maps/search/the+mill+salisbury/@51.0692683,-1.7981761,109m/data=!3m1!1e3

      I also don’t believe that Sergei is dead – the fact that we do not know whether he has spoken to his mother, means nothing. He might be calling her every day but nobody is telling us. They have no obligation to satisfy our curiosity. Yes, the Russians know a lot about what has happened and we can only hope that they will use that information wisely and not just sit on it.

  83. Duncan,
    I replied to your post criticising my own (in part rightly so) very fully on the last page (Holes 6).

    Peter Beswick,
    I replied to yours too.

    Rob,
    In reply to your post on the previous page (Holes 6), asking about the need a daylight abduction and for decoys I think it should be included here for it is much more important.

    When I wrote the post, to which you and Paul replied, it was NOT that i suspected “6” wanted to ‘disappear’ Sergei by attacking or kidnapping him against his will in broad daylight. I’m saying he had agreed with their offer that he (and maybe Yulia too) be moved to a safer location, given new identities, return to Russia, etc. for he had been made to believe (rightly or wrongly) that his life was in danger. The meeting had been prearranged, mutually agreed upon, but something went terribly wrong. (For example, he might not have told them about his intentions to return home to Russia, but they would have found out by other means). He was unaware of their true intentions or changed plan until that meeting, but Group X were not and they had carefully prepared to wreck the British plans – in revenge for the Steele dossier.

    The CCTV/bench couple were necessary decoys set up by “Box 850”. Their original plan was to be a low-key afffair – they would have ‘died’ in an accident, say. It was important to convince the opposition that Sergei had died (he may well have done) – meaning that he would never testify in any US inquiry. When Yulia appeared on the scene plans changed. Claiming they’d been poisoned by the Russian state was an added political bonus they couldn’t resist.

    That plan failed mainly because Group X had kidnapped Yulia very soon after leaving the Mill pub, and so could then use her as a pawn, proving her to be alive at any later stage – which they did. A hint came on 7th March when her VK account was accessed. The proof came on 5th April in her first phone call to Viktoria, and then again, dramatically, on 23rd May in the Reuters video – where in both cases she stated that Sergei was recovering. There’s much more I could say but that’s enough for now.

    I’ll reply to Paul’s comments now.

  84. The more I think about this the dafter it gets.
    The Skripals had garlic bread in Zizzis. You don’t eat garlic bread with a knife and fork. So why didn’t they ingest the novichok?
    As with the ducks, bread seems to be the antidote.

    1. The garlic bread ain’t the half of it Patrick. Nobody, so far as I’m aware, either on this blog, or on other sites, or in officialdom, has yet mentioned what I would call “The Other Door Handle”.

      I speak of course of the one at Zizzis. If anyone can explain to me how the “Novichoked” (“Novichocked”?) pair managed to get into Zizzis without using the door handle there, they are welcome to submit answers. The table inside was apparently so contaminated that it had to be incinerated. But the door handle was fine, along with all the other diners who subsequently touched it. As far as I know, that same door and door handle is still there. Maybe they gave it a quick go over with the baby wipes. Why they didn’t think to do that with the table though is anyone’s guess.

      1. It’s obvious, Rob. To four dimensional beings, who may exhibit a 3 dimensional image in our world, walls (and doors) are not an issue, they simply rotate themselves around the obstacle and appear on the other side of it.

        Have a read of Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott – but be warned, it’s not very complimentary about women.

        🙂

      2. Hallo,

        I`ve been reading here for a while. One comment:

        All those places that were incinerated/destroyed – maybe the aim was not only to destroy evidence no Novichok was there, but where DNA could be saved by “the other party”? That would mean destroying evidence, it was not the Skripals who were there.

        Second:
        Feeding the ducks is the classic spy behaviour to scan the terrain for foe or friend.

  85. Rob is confused.

    From the Salisbury earlier OPCW report.

    “The TAV team notes that the toxic chemical was of high purity. The latter is concluded from the almost complete absence of impurities. ”

    Rob does not realise that organic chemists frequently use door handles and restaurant tables to purify nerve agents.

    The Salisbury nerve agent was high purity, the Amesbury version was not.
    Did the Russian terror gang forget to rinse out the perfume bottle?
    If that is the case then the nerve agent must also have been in an earlier primary container.
    Where is it?

  86. Having read all these posts, my opinions have remained unchanged. I still wonder whether the bottle story (along with the bottle itself) was created after the poisoning took place. There are so many insistencies in this story (just as there are in the wider Skripal narrative/s given out by officialdom) that I suspect all this talk of bottles is just distraction from what really happened. Is there any evidence at all that this deadly perfume bottle ever existed – other than the vague and shifting accounts given by Charlie Rowley ?

    Another crucial question is why are the OPCW being so secretive over naming this ‘toxic substance’ publicly ? The only explanation I can give is that its chemical composition is classified as an official secret by Western governments. But that would suggest that Porton Down may have created it themselves (either within the US ‘enclave’ there or not). Under international law, presumably Russia would have received an OPCW report naming and describing the substance… or maybe not… If the Russian government have been told its name why haven’t the British public ?

    Can anyone give any other reason for OPCW’s lack of openness ? If asked their reason for not naming the substance what would their reply be ?

    As for the Skripals being involved in illegal drugs, there is no evidence whatever to suggest this.

    1. “As for the Skripals being involved in illegal drugs, there is no evidence whatever to suggest this.”

      There is a short video clip starring some old lags who did jail time with Sergei. One of them mentions an involvement with drugs, and also that he displayed a ‘liking for little boys’, but it’s hardly the most reliable source of information, and could be just gossip.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0RrWon8ls

    2. I suspect Chris Timperley knows a lot. According to Salisbury Journal on 30 October 2015 ‘Dr Christopher Timperley is chairman of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). He said: “Many governments who [sic] have raised issues of drugs as weapons as an issue for the future and this is clearly an area we are thinking deeply about and providing advice as best we can to stop the misuse of drugs.”’

  87. My opinion of the OPCW, for what it’s worth.

    It’s become an organisation that’s been compromised by Western geopolitical interests and is dominated by people holding those interests. Post-Skripal, they are no longer impartial, and are rapidly losing the respect they once had for their impartiality. I’ve noticed similar trends within UN agencies, NGOs, US religion-based aid organisations, etc. It also reminds me of corrupted privatised forensic science services, where scientists are increasingly breaking their own professional ethics to please their paymasters rather than to serve scientific truth.

  88. Rob,
    I read your IMPORTANT NOTICE last night, along with PasserBy’s reply, and I’d just like to say that I couldn’t agree with you more, and I’m very pleased you included it. Like you, I’ve noticed a few people taking out their frustration upon others here, and that kind of behaviour upsets me. I don’t like seeing others bullied. In the past it’s caused me to leave forums altogether. I’ve been an administrator and moderator of internet forums, and I’ve had to ban users for being uncivil to each other, etc. Respect means a lot to me. We should accept one another’s different opinions, and criticise in a constructive and civil way. This is no place for sarcasm (which I don’t ‘get’ anyway, and often miss) and insults. This behaviour speaks more of the writer’s personality than the victim’s.

    Lastly, like you I strive to live my life by treating others as I would wish to be treated myself, and follow that precept from 1 Peter. If everybody did this there would be no wars, no weapons of any kind – including chemical weapons – and no innocent animals being tortured to test and produce them. War is the most hideous consequence of human action imaginable – legalised murder, torture and environmental damage on a massive scale – all motivated by the human failings of greed, power, hatred and jealousy. (There’d also be no greed and selfishness, no violence, no cruelty, no national boundaries and the gap between rich and poor wouldn’t exist). There’s enough suffering in this beautiful world without us adding more.

    Why am I here ? Simply because truth and justice matter to me, and I see very little of these precious qualities in the actions of governments.

    1. Well said. Brilliant. Do not give up. Rob needs your support. And hopefully together we can make the world a better place.

  89. MET police :
    On Wednesday, 11 July, a small bottle was recovered during searches of Charlie Rowley’s house in Amesbury. It was taken to the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Wiltshire, for tests.
    http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-source-of-nerve-agent-contamination-identified-314322

    On July 15 the BBC wrote :
    The nerve agent that poisoned two people in Amesbury was contained in a perfume bottle, the brother of one of the victims,Matthew Rowley, said his brother Charlie told him he had picked up the perfume bottle.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44839805

    Why didn´t the OPCW collect the small bottle sample during their first visit ?

    1. Because PD hadn’t yet prepared it at that time?

      Semi serious, but if their ethics allow them to experiment on animals then it’s but a small step to participating in geopolitically motivated deceptions.

  90. Dawn Sturgess died on 8 July.
    Coroner David Ridley said a post-mortem examination was carried out on Sturgess on Tuesday 10 July.
    OPCW received the request from the UK on 13 July.
    OPCW arrived on 15 July. Their report says “The team attended and observed the post-mortem (autopsy) of Ms Dawn Sturgess.”
    How is that possible ???

  91. Rob wrote : „Members of the British Government have repeatedly used the word “Novichok” in relation to the poisonings, and yet the OPCW refuses to use this word in its report. Why ever not?“

    Organizations like the OPCW or institutions like Porton Down have a reputation to lose if they make false statements. This does not seem to be the case with politicians.
    “What do I care about my gossip of yesterday” – how many times have our elected representatives got away with it ?

    So, that´s what we have :
    OPCW = The toxic chemical compound displays the same toxic properties of a nerve agent.
    Porton Down = Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent
    Theresa May = Novichok
    Boris Johnson = Novichok A-234

  92. Another thing seems odd. They make a big deal about not knowing what conditions the bottle was kept in during the presumed production of it in March and Charlie acquiring it.
    Well that might be true of the outside of it – but the contents? They hadn’t leaked away and it had a top on it. It left no trace on the bus. So the liquid inside hadn’t got any external environmental contaminants.

      1. But Cascadian we were told novichok is a binary made up of more innocuous substances. Mass spectrometry on those component parts wouldn’t be influenced by movement. Did the chemistry of a bottle of water change on Concorde?
        And Salisbury is temperate. I don’t see massive temperature swings, in fact the original door handle would have had more temperature variation than the bottle contents.
        Regarding the bus, assuming Charlie acquired the bottle in Salisbury and took it home, shouldn’t all the buses that have served that route be tested? When he got it isn’t known.

  93. Similar to the story arc of the Skripals, Charlie Rowley seems not nearly dead and spoke to an ITV reporter about being released from hospital in a few weeks: http://www.itv.com/news/2018-09-04/charlie-rowley-tells-itv-news-he-is-feeling-positive-and-hoping-to-get-out-of-hospital-in-next-two-or-three-weeks. I find it interesting that during this hospitalization, we’ve never heard from Sam Hobson, the very informative friend of Mr. Rowley who detailed the several days prior to the initial Amesbury incident, except for the important bits.

    Regarding the OPCW report, the public findings are frustratingly imprecise. What impurities were present? What was the form of the chemical in the bottle? Liquid/Gel/Other? Exactly how did it compare to the samples found in the Salisbury investigation?

    1. Tut; you must keep up on things – Charlie Rowley is now dying of meningitis, a complication following his Novichok poisoning, from which he appeared to be recovering completely.

      No chance of getting much more information from him, I would say, which is a remarkable coincidence considering his many variations on the theme, not to mention very convenient for HM government.

      https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/brother-novichok-victim-charlie-rowley-1967862

  94. As I understood the “high purity”
    – the chemical was produced in a laboratory that made sure there were no fingerprints
    and the “blood samples”
    – analysis depends on the knowledge how a specific toxin works, though “the novichok series” was known, what it does in the body compared to pesticides is not known. Only victims before the Skripals was a Russian banker and his secretary.

    So the Skripals’ high purity samples with the British environment in them cannot really be compared to a toxin in a bottle that might have got some sunshine on it many month later.

    I think the significant part was Charles Rowley saying the perfume was wrapped and he needed a knife to open the cover.

    So it might have come from the “same batch” but it was not intended for the same situation.

  95. Thanks Rob for alerting to the new OPCW report.. It’s odd and unsatisfactory that OPCW do 2 reports, one, a summary that doesn’t give the precise name of the toxic agent, but using the term ‘toxic agent’ not novichok as determined by UK authorities, the other OPCW report referring precisely to the technical name for the agent. However, i want to let you know that recent times , worryingly, when ive tried to access Blogmire.com or Rob Slane, i get messages saying the site cannot be found. Blogmire.com server DNS could not be found. Or, Rob Slane blogmire site could not provide secure connection. There are now several websites i can’t access for example the new cold war. Hate to think your site is being deregistered by google or whatever powers that be.. please do keep sending your brilliant work to me… very best wishes – Kay in New Zealand

    1. Hi Kay, can I suggest you try duckduckgo as your search engine. Google is a bit on the dark side these days.

      1. Google has nothing to do with DNS (Domain Name Server). Google (like DuckDuckGo is a search engine, one that tracks your activity, DuckDuckGo does not track you, that why it is better for us) is a search engine it resolves keywords and phrases against sites which contain them in the metadata or body of their WEB facing HTML pages.

        Having said that (and noting that my background included a lot of time in IT) I too have encountered some misdirections where the request took me to WordPress’s sign up page and not to any of Rob’s pages within WordPress.

        Now, this may simply be a name resolution issue whereby the local name servers (which downloads zone files from the root servers in the USA) have failed to properly update those files, or there is some deliberate interference occurring. My immediate conclusion would be to go for the former or a similar issue as an explanation rather than direct interference by agents of some state. BUT, I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility that some deliberate interference is occurring to test for reaction to it.

  96. If with all the technical know how they have – they cannot confirm it is the same batch – that means in reality it isn’t the same batch.
    I’ve watched Fake or Fortune. They can tell exactly what 200 year old paint is made of and the points on the graph can be matched exactly from separate paintings.
    So I assume the points didn’t match on this.

    1. Patrick, it’s not quite like that.
      Imagine a bottle of sun tan lotion.
      One third remains in the bottle.
      One third you put on your body and expose to the sun for a day.
      The last third your dog eats then throws up.
      All three samples will contain some of the original sun lotion but no scientist would state that all the sun lotion samples were the same batch.

      (Please note, no animals were injured in the making of this analogy.)

      1. Duncan, did you see my thoughts below? To me it looks more like a crime of passion. If the 3% in the bottle was the perfume I think that rules out any state being involved.
        Maybe Yulia was the target of a jealous wife with access to nerve agent.
        The perfect crime.

    1. No. Charlie allegedly can not remember.
      But on August 2 two bins behind The Cloisters pub in Salisbury were taken away, because it was suspected that Charlie found the bottle in this bins.
      And don´t forget the nerve agent found in the public toilets at Cranebridge Road in Salisbury.

      1. Charlie’s garrulous brother says Charlie found it in a park. Charlie says he can’t remember. Charlie’s brother says the bottle broke as Sturgess handed it to him, so that some of the substance spilled on his hands. But the police have the intact bottle. Charlie says he spilled some on himself while trying to fit the applicator to the bottle – which The Guardian reported was already on the bottle, so as to render it leakproof so none would spill in transit.

        I have all these stories, in case anyone doubts there could really be such a tangled web of contradictory nonsense.

  98. OPCW Report with my comments in italics.

    CS-2018-1313(E) distributed 04/09/2018 *CS-2018-1313.E*
    OPCW Technical Secretariat
    S/1671/2018
    4 September 2018
    Original: ENGLISH
    NOTE BY THE TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT
    SUMMARY OF THE REPORT ON ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT
    IN SUPPORT OF A REQUEST FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BY
    THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
    (TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE VISIT TAV/03/18 AND TAV/03B/18
    “AMESBURY INCIDENT”)

    1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland requested technical
    assistance from the OPCW Technical Secretariat (hereinafter “the Secretariat”) under
    subparagraph 38(e) of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention in relation
    to an incident in Amesbury on 30 June 2018 involving a toxic chemical and the
    poisoning and hospitalisation of two individuals and the subsequent death of one. The
    Director-General decided to dispatch a team to the United Kingdom for a technical
    assistance visit (TAV).

    “As before, with the Salisbury attack, the UK asked, so over we went.”

    2. The TAV team deployed to the United Kingdom from 15 July to 18 July 2018 to
    collect biomedical samples and again on 13 August 2018 to obtain an additional
    environmental sample.

    “This is the time after Dawn has passed away, Charlie is still in hospital. The second visit was to collect a sample from the perfume bottle. So, we have a post mortem sample from Dawn, blood from a living Charlie, and a later perfume bottle.”

    3. The team received information on the medical condition of the surviving affected
    individual, Mr Charles Rowley. This included information on his acetylcholinesterase
    status since hospitalisation, as well as information on the treatment regime.

    “Implied is a low acetylcholine esterase level from Charlie. Implied, but not stated.”

    4. The team was able to collect blood samples from Mr Charles Rowley for transport to
    the OPCW Laboratory and subsequent analysis by OPCW Designated Laboratories.
    Mr Rowley was able to give informed consent himself.

    “Difference in procedure here, compared with the Skripals, Charlie, like DS Bailey was alive and conscious so informed consent was given for blood samples. Again, as the team was able to collect, that means the team took the blood, so no tampering by the UK was possible. Again implied.”

    5. The team attended and observed the post-mortem (autopsy) of Ms Dawn Sturgess.
    The team was able to collect a number of biomedical samples (mainly tissue samples)
    for transport to the OPCW Laboratory and subsequent analysis by OPCW Designated
    Laboratories. Consent for this procedure was obtained from the next-of-kin of
    Ms Sturgess, and the activity was carried out in compliance with the United Kingdom
    Human Tissue Act.

    “As above, this states that OPCW were satisfied that the samples taken were authentic. How much, if any parent nerve agent was found is not mentioned.”

    6. The team requested and received splits of biomedical samples collected by the British
    authorities for delivery to the OPCW Laboratory and subsequent analysis by OPCW
    Designated Laboratories. This was done for the purposes of comparison and in order
    to verify the analysis conducted by the United Kingdom.

    “Open to challenge here. These are not independent samples. As per the Skripals, the OPCW take what is given to them by the UK,”

    S/1671/2018
    page 2

    7. The team was briefed on the identity of the toxic chemical identified by the United
    Kingdom and was able to review analytical results and data from the chemical
    analysis of biomedical samples collected from the affected individuals by the British
    authorities.

    “Again, the UK said, this is what we have, this is what we found, now let’s show you.”

    8. The results of the analysis of biomedical samples conducted by OPCW Designated
    Laboratories demonstrate that Mr Charles Rowley and Ms Dawn Sturgess were
    exposed to and intoxicated by this toxic chemical.

    “So, what we have is that the UK told us what it was, and our (OPCW) findings agreed with this.” THIS IS THE KEY FINDING THAT THE UK WILL PUSH AS EVIDENCE.

    9. During the second deployment, the team collected a sample of the contents of a small
    bottle that the police seized as a suspect item from the house of Charles Rowley in
    Amesbury.

    “Again, a UK procured sample. OPCW find a result in a sample they were given,”

    10. The results of the analysis of this environmental sample conducted by OPCW
    Designated Laboratories show that the sample consists of the toxic chemical at a
    concentration of 97-98%. The sample is therefore considered a neat agent of high
    purity. The OPCW Designated Laboratories also identified a number of impurities
    constituting the remaining 2-3% of the sample.
    “Strange scientific ground here. Typically, by detecting and measuring impurities in a relatively pure sample, then the origins, similarities and unique components can help determine manufacturing site or at least similar synthesis.
    Key point here is that although the impurities have apparently been identified by OPCW there is no comparable “impurity” determination from the door handle or Zizzi table”

    11. The results of the analysis conducted by OPCW Designated Laboratories of
    environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the
    findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that
    intoxicated Mr Charles Rowley and Ms Dawn Sturgess. The toxic chemical
    compound, which displays the toxic properties of a nerve agent, is the same toxic
    chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the
    poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Mr Nicholas Bailey on 4 March 2018 in
    Salisbury (S/1612/2018, dated 12 April 2018).

    “A bit vague here. We cannot say that we found the same impurities, possibly understandable as one lot was in a bottle protected, the others were on door handles and tables and possibly exposed to harsher conditions, therefore leading to different breakdown products.
    The phrase “is the same toxic chemical” is again key.

    12. Due to the unknown storage conditions of the small bottle found in the house of
    Mr Rowley and the fact that the environmental samples analysed in relation to the
    poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Mr Nicholas Bailey were exposed to the
    environment and moisture, the impurity profiles of the samples available to the
    OPCW do not make it possible to draw conclusions as to whether the samples are
    from the same synthesis batch.

    “Confirming what I said above. Impurities were different, we expected this as the samples were different times, different exposures to weather, air etc.
    However, the OPCW is actually stating that they were indeed different. Main component was the same, but the 3% or so other stuff is not the same.”

    13. The name and structure of the identified toxic chemical are contained in the full
    classified report of the Secretariat, available to all States Parties.

    “I don’t know why it cannot be stated in public. If it is Novichok, a particular Novichok, A-234 then why not name it?
    Unless it’s not”

    1. Duncan – I didn’t read this thoroughly at first – I thought it was satire!
      Dear oh dear. What obfuscation. Would a state actor empty a perfume bottle then put in “novichok”? I assume the 3% is the original perfume. I would imagine they could procure an empty bottle or sterlise it completely. Say if it was Chanel they probably add markers to stop fakes. That batch or bottle batch could be traced. Would the FSB take that chance?
      So emptying a bottle indicates amateur hour to me.

      1. And that brings back the wrapped gift on the ground in the early bench photos.
        I can easily believe a “friend” gave Yulia a present and that “friend” had a back-up or trial run bottle. They could have left test bottle lying around and an unsuspecting partner found it. If a female partner asked them why they had it or who they bought it for they would have to lie – or risk divorce. He would also have to stop her using it. A lie about its quality or somesuch led to it being donated to charity.
        But it could be a female “friend” of Yulia who was jealous of relationship with hubby and knew a DTSL bod…
        PS this is all pure (97%) speculation.

        1. Patrick, the “wrapped gift” is actually a plastic bag with sand or lime in it. The content was strewn over the puke in front of the bench.
          You can see that in the video of the Salisbury Journal.

    2. Duncan,

      HELP! I simply don’t understand this:

      Substance Amesbury, which was in a sealed bottle, is found to have “concentration of 97-98%” and is considered “a neat agent of high purity.”

      Substance Salisbury, which was on a door handle, exposed for nearly three weeks to snow, rain, air, dust, exhaust fumes, policeman’s hands (whoops, mustn’t mention that), is found to have almost zero impurities and is considered “high purity”.

      Don’t misunderstand me, I understand how Substance Amesbury might have impurities in it. What I don’t understand is how Substance Salisbury has none. Seems impossible to me.

      1. Funny you should mention that door handle – as John Helmer has inquired in a post on his blog, why is that door still in place on the front of Skripal’s house, without even so much as a plastic bag over the handle? This was, after all (according to official accounts) the vector of original infection. The table at which the Skripals sat in Zizzi’s had to be destroyed because it was so toxic, as was the bench on which they sat…both of which were allegedly contaminated from the Skripals’ hands AFTER they had touched the door handle. But the door handle itself is still okay to be in the public environment? I suppose they would say that’s what the cops are there for – to keep people away from the Door Handle of Death. Wouldn’t it be simpler to remove the door and destroy it? They seem blissfully unconcerned with preserving any other evidence.

        The whole narrative is just too contradictory and confusing for words – Britain’s go-to chemical-warfare codger, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon claims the fake perfume bottle was specially engineered in Kremlin labs to look exactly like the original – probably cost them thousands of pounds and took months to develop – when it probably is an actual Nina Ricci sample bottle, with that grotesque applicator on top, the latter looking like it took about a half-hour to make. The Guardian’s legendary dissembler, Luke Harding, claims the applicator was specially designed to make the bottle leakproof, so Novichok did not spill in transit. Rowley himself has claimed to have found the bottle in a park, to have found it in a wheelie bin behind a charity shop in Salisbury, and to not remember where he found it. But he does say he spilt Novichok on himself while trying to fit the applicator onto the bottle – which, according to Harding, was already on the bottle in order to render it leakproof.

    3. Thank you Duncan, Certainly this is a shameful report. It is grossly unprofessional and it destroys the reputation of the OPCW to put this drivel before the public. This is typical of the crapification of so many regulatory bodies and the UN.

  99. Dear Rob Slane, thank you for your effort to keep following this case. I think it of the utmost importance that engaged people like you keep us informed. I value your analysis very much.

    Jozef Sioncke
    Drogenboomstraat
    Zulte, Belgium

  100. Have they actually confirmed that the route of application was topical, and not (in both cases) some bad drugs they injected or swallowed? There were allegations previously that Skripal was in the drug trade.

    1. Obviously this is speculation but that is my thought as well. The connection with the druggy community for want of a better phrase is not a coincidence as far as I am concerned.

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