The grandmother of the military doctor outed as a Salisbury assassin has disappeared after disclosing her grandson had been awarded Russia’s highest honour by Vladimir Putin.

The grandmother of Alexander Mishkin, whose identity was first disclosed by the Telegraph, vanished three days ago following reports that his real name was about to be revealed.

Mishkin, 39, a senior member of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, was given the Hero of the Russian Federation by Mr Putin at a ceremony in autumn 2014.

Nina Mishkina, now in her 90s, proudly showed to friends a photograph of her grandson shaking hands with the Russian president at the event.

Mishkin had travelled to the UK under the assumed name Alexander Petrov with another Russian agent Anatoliy Chepiga, who came on the false identity of Ruslan Boshirov.