Despite the fact that GRU operatives Anatoly Chepiga (aka Ruslan Boshirov) and Alexander Petrov (a possible alias) got exposed following their failed mission in UK's Salisbury to eliminate a double agent Sergey Skripal, the Kremlin will find another use for them in Russia, according to a former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Ilya Ponomarev.
The ex-MP suggests that Petrov and Boshirov could be elected to the State Duma or appointed governors, but after the change of power in Russia, “questions to the crimes they have committed will reemerge at full strength,” Ponomarev wrote in a blog for the Obozrevatel news outlet.
“So we will eventually see these guys behind bars, most probably” Ponomarev believes.
Read alsoWhy does the Kremlin hide Chepiga's bloody traces
At the same time, the Russian politician notes that these GRU operatives had been selected for the mission not due to certain professional qualities, but rather because of their loyalty to the Putin regime and for being ready to commit crimes upon orders from above.
“There are few people who are ready to execute such orders, therefore they are selected according to the criterion of 'they will not let us down and hold their ground,' and not according to the principle of special professional skills. Moreover, the GRU is an organization for sabotage, reconnaissance in the frontline zone, derailing enemy trains rather than being “white collars” of political intelligence (like SVR),” Ponomarev emphasized.
