Anatoliy Chepiga

Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga (Russian: Анатолий Владимирович Чепига, born 5 April 1979) is a colonel in the Russian General Staff's Main Directorate (also known as GRU), the military intelligence service of the Russian Federation. He is reported to have served in the Second Chechen War and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.[1]

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Vladimirovich and the family name is Chepiga.

Anatoliy Chepiga
Native name
Анатолий Владимирович Чепига
Birth nameAnatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga
Nickname(s)Ruslan Boshirov
Andrey Sholkhov
Born (1979-04-05) 5 April 1979
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
AllegianceRussia
ServiceMain Intelligence Directorate
RankPolkovnik (equiv. colonel)
Battles/warsSecond Chechen War
Russian invasion of Ukraine
AwardsHero of the Russian Federation

The issue of the title “Hero of the Russian Federation”

In 2014, Chepiga received the order of Hero of the Russian Federation,[2] the highest honour awarded by the President of Russia.[3] According to Ukraine, this was probably a reward to Chepiga for being the head of the team providing personal security for the then-deposed President Viktor Yanukovych during the successful "extraction mission" from Ukraine to Russia.[4] Chepiga was reportedly in the Czech Republic in October 2014, using the name Ruslan Boshirov.[5][6]

The Insider published photographs of the memorial to the graduates of the FEFU - Heroes of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation behind the monument to Konstantin Rokossovsky on the territory of the school, where the name "Chepiga A. V."[7][8][9] is stamped. It is written on the official website of DOSAAF in the Ivanovo district of the Amur Region that “in December 2014, Colonel A. Chepiga was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for performing a peacekeeping mission”.[10][11][7] The assignment of this title is mentioned on the portal of graduates of the DVOKU[12][9] and in the article by Olga Kapshtyk, journalist of the Suvorov Onslaught newspaper.[13] Radio Liberty together with Bellingcat published a photo of the boarding school "Heroes Alumni" booth from Odnoklassniki social network, on which "Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga is clearly visible, his name, surname and patronymic are well read".[14] In an interview with Business FM online and the Dozhd TV channel, Alexander Borzhko, chairman of the DOSAAF regional branch of the Amur Region, who was the commander of the DVOKU cadet battalion, where Chepiga served, confirmed that “Chepiga was given the Hero of Russia”, although he does not know for what exactly.[15][16]

A spokesman for the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, responded to a question from journalists about whether the information presented in the BellingCat investigation that Vladimir Putin awarded a medal to a person with that name was checked: “Yes, they checked. I have no information that a person with that name was awarded”.[17][18][19] RIA Novosti reports that to the clarifying question about whether it is possible that a person receives a reward, but this information is classified and for this reason Peskov does not have such information, he replied: “Once again, we would not want to continue these discussions without any reason".[20]

Controversies

Bellingcat and its investigative partner The Insider claimed that Chepiga was one of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and the killing of Dawn Sturgess, having travelled to the United Kingdom together with Alexander Mishkin under the alias of Ruslan Boshirov.[21][22][23]

Later in October 2018, Turkish media outlets reported that Chepiga was also likely linked to the assassination of the Chechen militant field commander Abdulvakhid Edelgiriyev back in late 2015 in Istanbul. Turkish journalists noted the resemblance of Anatoly Chepiga with Andrey Sholkhov of which he under the alias of.[24]

See also

References
  1. "Skripal Suspect Boshirov Identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga". 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  2. "ДВОКУ". www.dvocu.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. "Skripal suspect 'was made Hero of Russia' by President Putin". 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. https://112.international/ukraine-top-news/gru-officer-involved-in-skripals-poisoning-transporting-of-yanukovych-to-russia-identified-in-ukraine-32781.html%7Cretrieved= 19 December 2018
  5. Kroupa, Janek; Chaloupská, Markéta (October 10, 2018). "Russians accused of poisoning agent Skripal were secretly in the Czech Republic". iROZHLAS. The second man operated under the name Ruslan Boshirov. His real name per British media is Anatoliy Chepiga and he is an officer of GRU. He visited Prague on October 11, 2014.
  6. Bellingcat Investigation Team (October 24, 2018). "Dali, Warhol, Boshirov: Determining the Time of an Alleged Photograph from Skripal Suspect Chepiga". Bellingcat.
  7. "Солберецкие, часть третья. "Бошировым" оказался "Герой России", полковник ГРУ Анатолий Чепига", The Insider, 26 September 2018, retrieved 26 May 2020
  8. "Герой России и Вторая чеченская: новое в деле Скрипалей", Газета.Ru, retrieved 26 May 2020
  9. Https://www. Facebook. Com/bbcnews (28 September 2018), "Разоблачение полковника Чепиги: что говорят о нем чиновники и прокремлевские СМИ?", BBC News Русская служба, retrieved 26 May 2020
  10. "Героям Отечества посвящается... — Амурское региональное отделение ДОСААФ", Dosaaf28.ru/stati/patrioticheskaja-rabota/gerojam-otechestva-posvjaschaetsja.html, retrieved 26 May 2020
  11. Https://www. Facebook. Com/bbcnews (26 September 2018), "Анатолий Чепига - настоящее имя Боширова, считает Bellingcat", BBC News Русская служба, retrieved 26 May 2020
  12. "ДВОКУ", Dvocu.ru/index/alleja_geroev/0-36, retrieved 26 May 2020
  13. Debri-dv.com (PDF) http://debri-dv.com/filedata/files/1431.pdf, retrieved 26 May 2020 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "И все-таки – герой. Новое фото Анатолия Чепиги", Радио Свобода, retrieved 26 May 2020
  15. "Бывший командир Анатолия Чепиги: такой курсант был, ему дали Героя России", BFM.ru - деловой портал, retrieved 26 May 2020
  16. ""На лицо не запомнил, он был молодой". Бывший командир Чепиги — о его сходстве с Бошировым", Tvrain.ru/teleshow/fishman_vechernee_shou/na_litso_ne_zapomnil_on_byl_molodoj_byvshij_komandir_chepigi_o_ego_shodstve_s_boshirovym-472364/, 28 September 2018, retrieved 26 May 2020
  17. "Песков о "Чепиге-Боширове": информацию проверили, данных о том, что человек с таким именем награждался, нет", BFM.ru - деловой портал, retrieved 26 May 2020
  18. ""Это шизофрения": командир Чепиги разобрался в деле Скрипалей", Газета.Ru, retrieved 26 May 2020
  19. "У Пескова нет информации о награждении Путиным человека по фамилии Чепига", ТАСС, retrieved 26 May 2020
  20. "В Кремле прокомментировали информацию о награждении Чепиги", РИА Новости, 28 September 2018, retrieved 26 May 2020
  21. "Skripal Suspect Boshirov Identified as GRU Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga". 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  22. "Солберецкие, часть третья. "Бошировым" оказался "Герой России", полковник ГРУ Анатолий Чепига" [Solberetskys, Part Three. "BOSHIROV" turned out to be "Hero of Russia", Colonel of the GRU Anatoly Chepiga]. The Insider. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  23. Roth, Andrew; Dodd, Vikram (26 September 2018). "Salisbury poisoning suspect identified as Russian colonel". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  24. https://www.unian.info/world/10285713-turkish-journalists-believe-chepiga-boshirov-participated-in-liquidation-of-chechen-terrorist-media.html%7Cretrieved= 19 December 2018
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.