Russia's mystery duo, accused in poisoning row, back in the spotlight in Czech Republic blast case
Agence France-Presse
Russian agents
In 2018, after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury, Britain said it had identified two Russian agents seen wandering through the sleepy English town.
Their faces soon became recognisable worldwide after the UK authorities released CCTV footage and identified them as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
Britain said they had travelled to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal, smearing his door handle with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.
The Bellingcat investigative site, which mainly uses open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques, later concluded they were agents of Russia's GRU military intelligence outfit -- and their names as aliases used in fake passports.