An investigative journalism website has published what it says is the real identity of one of the Russian intelligence officers suspected of the Salisbury nerve agent poisoning.
The Bellingcat group claims the man who was named as Ruslan Boshirov is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga.
British officials have not commented.
UK investigators have said Mr. Boshirov was a Russian intelligence officer.
It was thought he travelled to the UK on a false passport, under a pseudonym, with another Russian national who used the name Alexander Petrov.
Ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by Novichok in March. The pair survived but Dawn Sturgess – a woman not connected to the original attack – died in July after being exposed to the same substance.
The latest development comes as a member of activist punk group Pussy Riot, Pyotr Verzilov, who is believed to have been poisoned, said he “firmly believes” Russia’s intelligence services were responsible.
Reports said although it wasn’t known if the two incidents were connected, the cases showed Russia seemed willing to take “increasingly aggressive” and “risky” action.
“They appear less worried about getting caught out – more brazen,” he added.
The UK government has accused Mr. Petrov and Mr. Boshirov of the attack in Salisbury. It said they were undercover officers for the Russian military intelligence, the GRU.
Russia has always denied the allegations and President Vladimir Putin said the suspects were civilians.
The pair then appeared on Russian-state television claiming to have been tourists, visiting the city to see its cathedral.
Bellingcat says that Col Chepiga was a soldier who served in Chechnya and was awarded the highest state award – Hero of the Russian Federation, usually bestowed personally by President Vladimir Putin.
Bellingcat obtained extracts from the passport file of Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. A picture of Mr. Chepiga from 2003 appears to look like a younger version of the man who used the identity Ruslan Bushirov.
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Kavanaugh accuser says alleged assault ‘altered my life’
The first of three woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct has said the assault “drastically altered” her life.
Prof Christine Blasey Ford’s written testimony describes how the alleged incident between her and the judge has had a “lasting impact” on her.
Prof Ford and Judge Kavanaugh are due to testify before a Senate panel about her allegations on Thursday.
Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
“It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court,” Prof Ford wrote in testimony provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of Thursday’s hearing. “My responsibility is to tell the truth.”
Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US’s highest court has been delayed in the wake of the allegations against him.
Mrs. Ford alleges Mr. Kavanaugh tried to drunkenly remove her clothing, pinned her to a bed and groped her at a party when she was 15 and he was 17.
“Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details,” she wrote in her prepared statement.
“I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened.”
She says Mr. Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge locked her in a bedroom during a small gathering at a house in Washington DC suburbs in the summer of 1982.
“Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack,” she said. Mr. Judge has disputed the allegations, saying he does not recall the incident.
Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale University classmate, has said that Mr. Kavanaugh once exposed himself to her at a dormitory party in the 1980s.
A third claim alleges he committed serious sexual assault in high school.
In a sworn affidavit, Julie Swetnick alleged that Mr. Kavanaugh was involved in the drugging and sexual assault of girls at house parties in the 1980s.
She says she was the victim of a gang rape in 1982 at a party attended by the judge.
