Moscow dismisses report claiming to identify of Skripal suspect

Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence.

Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov was Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May.

"There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday.

"The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?"