Bellingcat Claims Skripal Poisoning Suspect Boshirov Is ‘Hero Of Russia’, ‘GRU Colonel’ Anatoliy Chepiga

Bellingcat Claims Skripal Poisoning Suspect Boshirov Is 'Hero Of Russia', 'GRU Colonel' Anatoliy Chepiga

Alleged photos of Boshirov from various documents. Source: bellingcat.com

Bellingcat and The Insider continue releasing new speculations and allegations on identities and activities of Skripal poisoning suspects, Russian citizens Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. [previous part]

In a report released on September 26, Bellingcat and The Insider claim that they “have established conclusively the identity” of Ruslan Boshirov. They claim that he’s in fact GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who also has with the highest Russian state award – Hero of the Russian Federation.

“Following Bellingcat’s own identification, multiple sources familiar with the person and/or the investigation have confirmed the suspect’s identity.

This finding eliminates any remaining doubt that the two suspects in the Novichok poisonings were in fact Russian officers operating on a clandestine government mission,” Bellingcat’s article claims.

The article says futher:

“Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga was born on 5 April 1979, in the far-eastern village of Nikolaevka in the Amur oblast, population 300, near the Russia-China border. At age 18, he enrolled at a military school just 40 kilometers from his home, the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, one of Russia’s elite training grounds for marine commandos and Spetsnaz officers.

Anatoliy Chepiga graduated the academy with honors in 2001. He was then assigned to serve in the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade in Russia’s farthest-eastern city of Khabarovsk, one of the elite Spetsnaz units under GRU command. Chepiga’s unit (74854, formerly 20662) played a key role in the second Chechen War, and was also observed near the Ukrainian border in late 2014.

Over the course of his assignment to the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, Colonel Chepiga was deployed three times to Chechnya. The specific operations he was involved in are not known; however, a website of a far-eastern branch of a state-run military volunteer organization reports that he received over 20 military awards in the course of his service.

At some point between 2003 (the last year we identified him at the 14thSpetsnaz Brigade in Khabarovsk) and 2010 (the year he received his first undercover passport), Anatoliy Chepiga was assigned his alter ego, “Ruslan Boshirov”, and was relocated to Moscow. Given his current rank of Colonel and function as a clandestine GRU officer, it is plausible that during this period he graduated from the Military Diplomatic Academy, also known as the “GRU Conservatory,” in Moscow.

In December 2014, Colonel Chepiga was awarded Russia’s highest state awardHero of the Russian Federation.”

The article further claimed that Bellingcat and The Insider had obtained extracts from the passport file of Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, an alleged GRU Colonel, “from two separate sources with access to databases dated prior to 2014.”

Bellingcat Claims Skripal Poisoning Suspect Boshirov Is 'Hero Of Russia', 'GRU Colonel' Anatoliy Chepiga

Source: theins.ru

“The passport file contained a photograph – dated approximately in 2003, when this passport was obtained – that strongly resembled a younger “Boshirov” as seen in passport photos released by the UK police, with an even stronger resemblance to the cover identity passport photo published in our previous publication on the Skripal suspects.

A passport application form in the passport dossier listed Chepiga’s 2003 place of residence as “Military Unit 20662, Khabarovsk”, confirming this was indeed the person identified in the 2003 database. It also listed his place of birth as “village of Nikolaevka”, further linking this person to the Hero of the Russian Federation with the same name.

The passport application form identified also Anatoliy Chepiga’s marital status and listed his military ID number,” the article claimed.

Bellingcat Claims Skripal Poisoning Suspect Boshirov Is 'Hero Of Russia', 'GRU Colonel' Anatoliy Chepiga

Source: bellingcat.com

It’s interesting to note that in this “investigation” as well as  in their previous articles on this issue, Bellingcat and The Insider use documents obtained from undisclosed sources, and which cannot be verified independently, as the core of their allegations.

However, even if the provided data is theoretically true and Ruslan Boshirov is in fact Hero of the Russian Federation GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, this only raises more questions. It’s hard to believe that a highly decorated GRU officer [as a rule a GRU colonel can be compared to army lieutenant general] would be involved in a common field operation – to spray Novichok on Skripal’s front door.

It’s like to suggest that a British Secret Intelligence Service colonel awarded with the Victoria Cross would be tasked to spray some poison on door of an unremarkable former double agent living somewhere in Russia.

On the other hand, “investigations” of Bellingcat shows high efficiency and capabilities of the US cyber forces, who had been able to find a person in a thousands strong Russian special officers corpus, whos personal data can be used in the ongoing anti-Russian propaganda campaign. This was made with a high efficiency and in a very short time.

This situation shows that the processing power and its simulated “artificial intelligence” employed by the CIA and the NSA are superb allowing the US to dominate in information conflicts. Furthermore, this is an example that the US and Western states in general have enough Russian-speaking experts and specialists on Russia and post-USSR states. In turn, it looks that right now Russia does not have neither appropriate technologies nor a significant number of experts in the field.

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Promitheas Apollonious

again with this BS. Give it a rest.

Nightcrawler136

As the blind man said “You tell me it’s a rose garden but all I can smell is bulls shit!”

Paul Barbara

Fuc*ing simple – any country has the facility to check photos to see if they are the same person.
A set of how ever many points on a persons face that coincide.
Just the same as they COULD have done with the fatty-chops ‘Osama bin Laden’ of the ‘admission’ tape and the real OBL.

Dawn of Svarog

The thing is.. Russia can not react to some fkin Bellingcat “reports” even if it is full of bulshit – if they do, they will have to react to every bullshit and fake news that MI6 or CIA will start trowing at them.. that would be waste of time and resources..

Luke Hemmming

http://abc.net.au/news/2018-09-27/fake-news-part-one/10308638?pfmredir=sm
So this technology has been around for years long before it is released into the public domain. So bear this in mind when you see video of supposedly ‘conclusive video proof’ of Russian involvement in ANY incident. Can’t always believe what you see now.

RichardD

It can all be photo shopped.

Villainess

They have a massively powerful computer system with untold mysterious capabilities just for setting up their own fabrications as Truth, with all the facial/vocal recognition/recreations they might need. They can also give any hack the Russian ‘digital fingerprints’ required. Also, tragically, our Supreme Court has come down on the side of lying corporations over resistant journalists, so only lies can be assumed in our media.

Empire's Frontiers

Bellingcat’s self-congratulating account of tracking down this information wouldn’t be any less believable if they admitted they’d used magic and a ouija board.

Zionism = EVIL

The Brits are natural born liars. all this is hogwash. The two men in the photos were gay Russians in UK for a goodtime as almost all British “men” are faggots, and that is a FACT.

Brother Ma

I agree. Two gays out together in Salisbury . They happen to be GRU and there also for a diff mission. That is my take.

AM Hants

They did similar, raising the dead to support their ‘fairy tale’. Not a good look.

Tudor Miron

While SouthFront seem to be prizing intelligence capabilities of CIA :) I would give a hint why this BS is channeled through Bellingsh$t. That’s because spreading blatant fakes through official channels leads to rapid degrading of credibility of state (that if we can even talk about credibility in this case). But if bellingbum again uses a little photoshop than that’s OK – who cares what a “private investigator” does, this isn’t state responsibility. Notice that UK officials do not use it as evidence (at list yet) – why?
If all that story was true, I would not see another explanation other than a traitor doing things on purpose to set Russia up. But in this case, I would think that after being exposed by UK side, those guys would be already arrested and would start singing that they were doing what Mi6 was telling them to do. To sum it up – this story is aimed at western sheeple, same audience that believes that Assad is that dumb that when he’s winning the war, he can’t help but start poisoning his own people with Zarin/Chlorin etc. as if things are going too well and he doesn’t feel satisfied without being bombed by US/UK/France.
If Russian GRU would work like UK claims that it does, Russia would cease to exist many years ago but when we look at what is actually happening on the ground it looks like Russia does well and in many instances outsmarts and embarrasses western establishment. I would suggest that west should settle on one narrative. Either Putin is that dark lord chess master or he’s a complete idiot. It can’t be both ways at the same time :)

putinbeater

tldr, russian fsb troll

VeeNarian (Yerevan)

I see the comments have hit home, and boy, does it hurt!
That swelling on your backside must be enormous. Go to the US/EU/NATO gangster hospital for immediate medical treatment.
Perhaps our world class and miracle-working doctors in Salisbury can reduce your enormous bum?

AM Hants

Looks like the miracle working doctors in Salisbury, can even raise dead heroes.

The late Colonel Chepiga’s name was taken from a ‘Memorial’ honouring the fallen heroes of Russia. Only we were not meant to notice. No wonder ‘Dimwit Williamson, deleted his tweet. The BBC and DM have not got the message. So hope the family of the Late Colonel Chepiga sue Belingcat, for the distress he has caused.

‘…Memorial wall of the Far Eastern Military Command School with Colonel Chepiga as the last name under the Gold Star honor list…’ https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/09/26/skripal-suspect-boshirov-identified-gru-colonel-anatoliy-chepiga/

as

Due to the hubristic nature of the topics i don’t bother in finding out. Thanks for the info. Would be interesting now if they’re getting sued.

AM Hants

Seriously hope they do.

Villainess

But the Corpo-media would never ever tell us that.

TJ

LOL. No it isn’t a memorial honouring the fallen. It simply honours members of the academy who received the honour. You will also see Alexander Popov’s name on the wall and the monument. Popov is still alive.

https://www.ampravda.ru/2015/06/26/058389.html

AM Hants

Cheers. Doesn’t that hinder their covert activities?

putinbeater

hi, gipsy! :)

VeeNarian (Yerevan)

What’s wrong being a Gipsy? All people should be proud of their identity. Aren’t you?
Just don’t die of shame due to the astonishing level of your ignorance.

putinbeater

gipsy = thief

VeeNarian (Yerevan)

I thought this role was that of the banksters, who then made the people pay twice. Are you missing the woods for the trees?

Tudor Miron

KGB is hounting little Solomoisha :) Keep hiding in your basement or we will come after you and send you to a nice resort on Laptev sea.

Darkish

So where is a real Chepiga now whom you seem to know a lot about or could he being the one playing Mr. Bond.

Tudor Miron

All I know about Chepiga is a quote from Bellingcrap fake report. What allows you to assume that I know a lot about him?
Are you one of those who’s buying into that Skripal saga crap?

Darkish

Ha ha ha haaaa! That’s only I can say.

putinbeater

first learn english, little troll!

until you do not recognize the difference between hounting and hunting, shut up!

Tudor Miron

Solomoisha :) I suggest you look up for many meanings of word hounting and stop embarasse yourself in public.

putinbeater

heyx, wodkaking, how many stickers have yu prepared for mig-29 to mask as su-57?

Gary Sellars

STFU idiot… we’re all getting rather fed up with your absurd performances. sad sorry little man with his deeply-ingrained sense of inferiority & irrelevance.

Gary Sellars

Oh look, our brainless Langely-bot wants to refer to others as a “troll”? Just hilarious, and more than a little pathetic.

VeeNarian (Yerevan)

Excellent comments and sharp observations.

FlorianGeyer

Amazingly on the same day as this garbage from ‘Bellingprat’ is printed in the press, front page in many of the rags, there is the disclosure in court that the terrorist who killed many people outside parliament in the UK last Summer had been on the MI5 serious danger list in 2010 and had been downgraded to a minor risk.

The MI5 witness in court said that this fact had not been a failure :)

Burying uncomfortable news under salacious bullshit is a tried and tested tactic of the British government regimes.

NeoLeo

Bellingcrap is obviously just a proxy for CIA/MI6. Nevertheless till now they had absolutely zero evidence of any russian involvement, now they do have… presentable case at least. Perfect for a new media smear campaign. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two are indeed in Salisbury on some special mission, probably tricked and lured by the british agencies, but nothing to do with Skripals. But why did they wait so long with this story? Russia should stop being passive/re-active and go on offensive. They need to present their own story, even the fake one. But doing nothing, or almost nothing, this silence, just make them look guilty. SF is also right here, does CIA have database of all russian military, intelligence personnel?

Villainess

First time I ever heard of Bellingcat was after MH17 got shot down over Novorussia. Bellingcat claimed to have found ‘proof’ of Russia’s night-time sneakery and has supported the ‘Blame Russia for everything’ US deepstate at every turn.

NeoLeo

They are basically CIA/MI6 imitation of Wikileaks.. their purpose is to spread fabricated lies against Russia, provided by western intelligence agencies.

Villainess

That’s exactly what I was guessing. It was too obvious, though. I thought the CIA specialized in covert operations, like their terrorist 5th column set up in Syria that took a while to figure out. Bellingcat took no time.

putinbeater

yes, yes, thjose were no tourists, but russian agents. ruskies lied. again. they have special gene for both, chronic and pathyological lyeing.

and poot-in also has shit in own mouth.

Kandinski

Poor CIA lovers.

zman

Boy, you’re really butt-hurt, aren’t you. Preparation H might help. HAHAHA

Sinbad2

The British have gone full Trump.

Never go full Trump.

https://youtu.be/X6WHBO_Qc-Q

as

Trump effect. Everyone suddenly fallen full reeetarded. Lol.

VeeNarian (Yerevan)

Can you hear the sound of music being played to soothe the Plebs into submission to the anti-Russian propaganda?
No amount of singing and dancing by the US/EU/NATO/UK gangsters will change these basic facts:

1. No-one died in the “act of war” in Salisbury that used “military grade Novichok”, which is supposed to be 10 times more deadly than the VX invented by the UK military.
2. Now, we are suppose to believe that this act of massive incompetence was done by a decorated military hero of Russia? Incredible!
3. London teenage gangsters have murdered 100 people this year just armed with common knives.

I really have lost all respect for nerve agents and as a Chemistry graduate, I must insist that all Chemists employed in weapons programs be fired immediately for gigantic fraud and be more usefully employed in the illegal drugs industry.

gordonehil

I don’t follow Bellingcat but he was definitely pushing 2 faked photos 2 years ago to prove that the Russians had bombed medical facilities.

AM Hants

MH17, wasn’t it Belingcat pushing the ‘3 merged tapes’, posted on You Tube, the night before it happened?

The redundant housing officer from Leicester, or was it Coventry (SOHR was the other), who took the ‘Google Software’ Course, and now takes control of UK intelligence? George Eliason, over on Oped News, has written some brilliant articles, taking down ‘Belingcat’.

‘Anything other than social media?’ State Dept’s MH17 evidence secret… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQRvINebeok

Sinbad2

I haven’t seen Mat Lee lately, I think they might have got rid of him.
He’s a journalist, and that isn’t acceptable in today’s western media.

AM Hants

Saw him a few weeks ago. Good as ever.

State Department Press Briefing with Heather Nauert and AP’s Matt Lee Sept 18, 2018… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kw-TEjnDU

FlorianGeyer

Thats true. Matt Lees questions at the US State Dept were always enjoyable as the State Dept spokespeople usually squirmed as they performed their verbal gymnastics in reply :)

AM Hants

Matt Lee Fix for September.

Blame game: NATO expanded to Russia, or Russia moved towards NATO?… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW5HV69LKUs

Matt Lee bulldozes State Department’s Jen Psaki over Edward Snowden’s free speech… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf3iYI479oI

Matt Lee crushes Rear Admiral Kirby: If Iran deal is a success, why missile defense in Europe?… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoKoUEoo8xM

Are Y’all Working for Putin’s Fake News? – State Dept Spox Shocked By Journo Matt Lee Doing His Job… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLrU8GxKlS0

palestine – UNESCO : Matthew Lee destroying State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU7osIl8IDI&t=92s

FlorianGeyer

There is a moral in all of this that the ‘tenants ‘ of the White House would be well advised to learn and that is ‘Don’t try to defend the indefencable with State Dept simpletons :)

Empire's Frontiers

Perhaps it only gets worse from there.

O_o

Empire's Frontiers

How about this one, the thing short circuits and has to restart mid-conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwoj3U5Awo

xD

AM Hants

Notice the State Department Spokesmen’s eyes, do not blink? Seriously bad body language.

Empire's Frontiers

What is it you take that non blinking to indicate?

AM Hants

With him, he seriously looks programmed. Wonder where the microchip was placed. Together with lying.

Brother Ma

Ukrainians also had this equip ,so do Nato who buy it on the black market. Also I do not remember bragging,dumb blond,I remember remorse.

Aphelion

I just love whenever Bellincat writes something like “This finding eliminates any remaining doubt…” What they really mean is “this is what we’ve got, if you don’t agree agree with us you’re an idiot”, which might be how arguments are won on the playground when you’re 5 years old, but which also just once again reminds those of us who have been involved in real investigations that this organization is nothing more than a bunch of armchair “investigators” who don’t even know the difference between evidence and proof.

Zionism = EVIL

Sounds like more desperate British hogwash.

Rob

I surprise that nobody mention the Iraqi election which has been influenced by US. The democracy there in Iraq has been frozen now. The Ex PM Abadi is still in power while he has lost combat in Iraqi election.

AM Hants

Belingcat, took the name from a ‘Memorial’ remembering the fallen heroes, including the late Colonel Chepiga.

‘…Memorial wall of the Far Eastern Military Command School with Colonel Chepiga as the last name under the Gold Star honor list… ‘ https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/09/26/skripal-suspect-boshirov-identified-gru-colonel-anatoliy-chepiga/

AM Hants

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f2352aca8abea729a0b256ae1a262ac65e0e19861d17c7fc4a62087947425de.png

Memorial wall of the Far Eastern Military Command School with Colonel Chepiga as the last name under the Gold Star honor list

FlorianGeyer

Perhaps ‘Bellingcat ‘is unaware of the meaning of the word ‘memorial’ :)

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/memorial

Brother Ma

So he can’t be a younger relative of the man?

AM Hants

?????????? Then how come Belingcat picked his name out of a phone book, based on when Belingcat assumed he was born?

‘…Who is Colonel Chepiga?
Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga was born on 5 April 1979, in the far-eastern village of Nikolaevka in the Amur oblast, population 300, near the Russia-China border. At age 18, he enrolled at a military school just 40 kilometers from his home, the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, one of Russia’s elite training grounds for marine commandos and Spetsnaz officers…

…The Challenge of Finding Colonel Chepiga

Bellingcat began the search with only the two targets’ photographs and their cover identities. Initially we attempted reverse image-search via several online engines, but no matches were found. Similarly, no name telephone numbers were registered in the name of “Ruslan Boshirov” in any of the reverse-searchable telephone databases usually scraped by Bellingcat.

Having tried these initial avenues of pursuit, Bellingcat and the Insider approached the search deductively. ON THE ASSUMPTION that the two suspects were GRU officers…

We browsed through multiple (incomplete) yearbook photos and reunion galleries of the classes of 2001-2003 but did not find exact matches for either of the suspects… In the 2003 database, a certain Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga was listed with a phone number and an address…’ https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/09/26/skripal-suspect-boshirov-identified-gru-colonel-anatoliy-chepiga/

Brother Ma

That is what I am saying. He may really be a Chepiga but maybe the Chepiga on the monument is an older Chepiga?? Coyldthere be two Chepigad ,one who is on monument and this Borisov who is just GRU?

AM Hants

Yet, who says he is GRU? Some redundant housing officer, living in Leicester (or is it Coventry, muddle him and his clone running SOHR)? Higgins aka Belingcat who took a Google Software Course, now believing him to be the UK ultimate intelligence source??????????? Delusional or what.

Brother Ma

Who says I believe what they Natoists are saying? I am playing The Devil’s Advocate. Do you know what that means?

As i have said ,I do believe they are GRU but i think they were there for personal reasons or another mission. The UK has been tracking their movements and framed them for Skripals. This makes the most sense to me.

as

The UK just put picture of two random men to support their crazy story this make the most sense to me

Sinbad2

So this famous GRU colonel was given a visa by Britain?
The land of James Bond has the worst security on the planet.
Why haven’t the leaders of the various UK security departments been fired.

All these lies make the British establishment look like fools.
And to be honest, they must be fools, if this is the best conspiracy theory they can concoct.

wimroffel

Elliot Higgins is nowadays on the lecture circuit.

On 16 October he is in Amsterdam: https://rodehoed.nl/programma/oktoberlezing-who-is-afraid-of-the-fsb/

Tchoutoye

This is an old intelligence trick. If you want people to believe that person A and person B are the same, you create a composite photo C with facial elements of both A and B. C looks enough like A and also enough like B to make people believe that therefore A must be the same person as B. The CIA performed the same trick with the two Oswalds, Harvey and Lee.

Carol Davidek-Waller

Southfront, please stop publishing fake news from Bellingcat. Even if you mean to mock them, it gives them credibility they do not deserve. Silence or legal action is the best response.

clubof.info

Digital evidence is immaterial and websites have no credibility whatsoever to launch any investigation. When I heard in the news here in the UK that “a website” apparently “claims” this stuff, it seemed like the story could not have sounded any weaker. The media seemed to hold the story like a hot potato, government intelligence agencies themselves have not verified the story.

Loung Kodak

Frankly hilarious.
Does the NSA, who spies the whole world shamelessly (until the level of the E.U. political leaders, so them own allies), would give ethical lessons to alleged Russian spies? ?

uncle tungsten

Isn’t it time for bellingcrap to be prosecuted for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice?

Brother Ma

Not when he is being used by the Justice Dept of cwprrtain countries he wont.

CHUCKMAN

Even if true, so what?

It proves nothing about the Scripal Affair.

We have absolutely no solid evidence about what even happened in Salisbury.

I’ll never reject evidence, but innuendo I reject.

Bellingcat is, of course, just a front organization for MI6. It is not independent, and itis not dependable. It is in the disinformation business.

Feudalism Victory

I read your blog good stuff.

Feudalism Victory

Who gives a fuck if a little poison was used? If it even happened that way. Bullets poison bombs dead is dead. Would it be worse if the UK kidnapped and tortured the skripals to make a problem with russia but didnt kill them?