2 Russians accused of attempted nerve agent assassination in England say they were only there to see the cathedral

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September 13, 2018 12:06 PM

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov have been accused of attempted murder by the UK over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal. The two men defended themselves on Thursday in a bizarre interview with Russian state TV.

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov
They defended themselves in a bizarre interview with Russian state TV on Thursday.
The told RT that they were only in Salisbury for tourism, and wanted to see the cathedral, its clock, and nearby Stonehenge.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May says the two men are Russian intelligence officers, claims which they and the Russian government has denied.

the UK of attempting to assassinate a Russian double-agent with nerve poison have defended themselves, claiming they were only at the site of the killing because they wanted to see a cathedral.

"Our friends had been suggesting for a long time we visit this wonderful town. There's the famous Salisbury cathedral, famous not only in Europe but in the whole world, it's famous for its 123m spire, it's famous for its clock, one of the first ever created in the world that's still working."

The two men confirmed that they were the men pictured travelling to and from Salisbury in images published by Britain's Metropolitan Police. But they denied any involvement with the poisoning. They continued:

"Of course, we went to Salisbury to see Stonehenge, Old Sarum, but we couldn’t do it because there was muddy slush everywhere. The town was covered by this slush. We got wet, took the nearest train and came back [to London]."

An except of the full interview was shown on RT News on Thursday morning, and an additional transcript can be seen here.

The Member of Parliament for Salisbury, John Glen, said the interview made by the suspects to RT is "not credible" and "does not match intelligence we have on the individuals," Sky News reported.

After the interview went live, a Government spokesperson told Business Insider:

On September 5, Britain formally charged Petrov and Boshirov over Skripal's poisoning, and that of his daughter Yulia, in March of this year.

The same day, Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament that Petrov and Boshirov are officers from the Russian intelligence services, also known as the GRU.

The Metropolitan Police published photographs of the men in Salisbury to accompany the news of their being charged:

Russia has consistently denied ordering the attack, or having any knowledge of it.

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