Europe 1 with AFP 3:13 p.m., September 21, 2021

Three and a half years ago, ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, UK.

Sergei Fedotov is the third Russian intelligence agent indicted in the United Kingdom, after Alexander Petrov and Rouslan Bochirov.

A third Russian intelligence officer has been charged in the 2018 investigation into the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, southwest England, British police said on Tuesday.

Sergei Fedotov, also known under the name of Denis Sergeyev, was notably charged with conspiracy to assassinate Sergei Skripal, attempted murder on Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and the policeman Nick Bailey, who had been infected while intervening on the scene, and possession and use of a chemical weapon.

The Skripals now live in hiding under protection

Assistant Deputy Commissioner Dean Haydon, who led the Counterterrorism Police investigation into the Salisbury and Amesbury attacks, said in a statement that it was a "significant new development in our investigation" , launched after the poisoning of the former Russian spy and her daughter on March 4, 2018. 

Former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury and hospitalized in serious condition.

They survived and now live in hiding under protection.

London accuses Moscow of being behind this poisoning and has previously issued a European arrest warrant against two Russians, Alexander Petrov and Rouslan Bochirov - possible pseudonyms - suspected of having carried out the attack and presented as members of military intelligence ( GRU).

Multiple meetings between Fedotov, Petrov and Bochirov

Sergey Fedotov is the third man identified by British police and arrest warrants are in place for all three.

Police say Sergei Fedotov arrived in the UK at around 11 a.m. on March 2, 2018 on a Moscow-London flight, about four hours before Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Bochirov arrived in London from Moscow.

Investigators believe the three met on a number of occasions in London over the weekend, before Sergei Fedotov left the UK on March 4, 2018 on a flight to Moscow from London Airport. from Heathrow.