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One of the men suspected to be behind the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury is a colonel awarded Russia's top military honour by Putin, it is claimed.

The two suspects using the names Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov are actually undercover officers of the Russian Military Intelligence, known as GRU, according to reports.

And Boshirov’s identity is Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a GRU officer awarded the ‘Hero of the Russian Federation’ in 2014, Bellingcat.com reports.

The report says multiple sources have confirmed this identity and that it 'eliminates doubt' the two suspects were working on a government mission.

It is very likely, according to reports, that Putin would have known the identity of Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga as not many officers receive the award.

Putin has previously said the suspects are known to Russian authorities, but he has rejected Britain's claims that the pair work for the GRU.

The Russian President said the men accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok are civilians and there was "nothing special or criminal" about them.

Boshirov and Petrov insist they are not spies.

(Image: PA)

Chepiga joined a military school at the age of 18 and graduated with honours in 2001, reports claimed.

He then reportedly served in the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade in Khabarovsk, one of the elite Spetsnaz units under GRU command.

Some reports indicated he had received more than 20 military awards in the years he served.

Earlier a friend of Boshirov claimed he had served in an elite military unit.

Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda managed to track down a man who claims to be a childhood friend of Boshirov after offering a 100,000 RUB (£1,156) to anyone able to supply information about either of the men.

A man, named only as Kirill, called the newsroom of the popular paper, after receiving a text message about the appeal from his mother.

He said both he and Boshirov were born in the former Russian city of Dushanbe, now capital of Tajikistan, but both families later moved to the city of Rostov on Don in south-western Russia.

Kirill said they had gone to school and served with special army troops together but Boshirov had been suddenly transferred to another unit, for reasons that Kirill did not want to discuss.

He did not appear to know Boshirov had been implicated in an international scandal and responded with apparent shock, saying: "Who, Ruslan? This cannot be true. What scandal can it be?"

(Image: PA) (Image: RT) (Image: RT)

Kirill added that he had no photographs of Boshirov from their time together but he revealed that he was still in touch with his father-in-law.

However journalists poured some doubt on his story when they revealed he had mixed up Boshirov with Petrov in photographs.

Boshirov and Petrov have admitted being in Salisbury but denied being Russian operatives, claiming they were there as tourists to visit the cathedral and Stonehenge.

The pair are said to have arrived in London via plane, carrying a specially-made bottle disguised as a vial of Nina Ricci’s Premier Jour perfume.

(Image: SWNS.com)

The bottle is believed to have been loaded with the nerve agentNovichok .

Mr Skripal and his daughter were discovered slumped on a bench in Salisbury on March 4, a couple of days after Petrov and Boshirov arrived in Britain.

They were rushed to hospital, fighting for their lives.

It later emerged they were poisoned with the nerve agent.

Police officer DS Nick Bailey, who came to the aid of the pair, was also exposed to the same substance.

He was left seriously ill in hospital, but all three victims fortunately survived.

In the second novichok incident, Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 48, were exposed to the same nerve agent.

Ms Sturgess died in hospital in July, just over a week after the pair fell ill.

Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, previously said: "We do not believe Dawn and Charlie were deliberately targeted, but became victims as a result of the recklessness in which such a toxic nerve agent was disposed of.

(Image: PA)

(Image: ITV)

"We know that Novichok was applied to the Skripals' front door in an area that is accessible to the public, which also endangered the lives of members of the public and emergency service responders."

Petrov and Boshirov claimed on Kremlin TV channel RT to run a sports nutrition business - although no trace of it has been found.

The suspects said they were on a quick trip to see Salisbury as tourists.

Their visit to Britain was for fun, they claimed.

While Britain has blamed Russia for the Skripal poisonings, the country has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.