'We just went to see the cathedral and Stonehenge... now we fear for our lives': Two novichok assassins make bizarre claims on Russian TV - 24 hours after Putin insisted they were 'civilians, not criminals'

• Britain says Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are aliases for 2 GRU agents sent to kill Sergei Skripal
• Both men say they are businessmen who now fear for their lives after police and MI5 pointed the finger
• They say snow ruined trip to Stonehenge so they spent an hour in Salisbury before heading back to London
• Boshirov admits they may have stumbled upon Skripal's home even though it is is 25 minutes from cathedral
• When asked if they were carrying a perfume bottle of novichok he said: 'No that's complete bulls***' 
• Russian media has even suggested 'fashionable' suspects were on a gay trip to help back up their story
• Vladimir Putin insists Russia had nothing to do with it and said they were civilians doing 'nothing criminal' 

The Russian assassins sent to poison double agent Sergei Skripal broke their silence in a bizarre interview today claiming they were common tourists trying to find Salisbury's cathedral after failing to get to Stonehenge.

The men, who allegedly used the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov to smuggle nerve agent into the UK in a James Bond-inspired perfume bottle, told state-funded TV station RT the theory is 'complete bulls***'.

They claim they were only in Salisbury for an hour because of gaps in the Sunday train service to London and said if they stumbled upon Sergei Skripal's suburban house it was only by accident.

Scotland Yard and MI5 say they are GRU spies sent to murder Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia after carrying enough novichok to wipe out 4,000 civilians into Britain on a plane from Russia.

But during their brazen TV appearance the men claimed they now fear for their lives and demanded an apology from Britain and RT said they were so nervous they needed Cognac before going on air.

Boshirov also denied the Kremlin has forced them to speak out and said: 'When your life is turned upside down, you don't know what to do and where to go. We're afraid of going out, we fear for ourselves, our lives and lives of our loved ones.'

While Petrov, who said he had never heard the name Skripal until Britain pointed the finger at him, replied: 'You can't imagine what it's like. We'd like if one day the real perpetrators are found and we're given an apology.'

But within minutes of their stage-managed TV appearance today it was branded 'Kremlin managed propaganda' a and the PM's spokesman called their account 'obfuscation and lies'. 

Salisbury MP John Glen tweeted: 'Delighted that Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Borishov were able to see the world-class attractions that Salisbury has to offer. But very strange to come all this way for just two days while carrying Novichok in their luggage'.

Critics also pointed out the men said they failed to cope with 'slush' despite reportedly living in Siberia, where there is often snow on the ground for half the year. 

The two Skripal suspects Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov (right) have spoken out for the first time and say they were just tourists enjoying the delights of Salibury

During their brazen TV appearance (pictured) the men claimed they now fear for their lives and demanded an apology from Britain and RT said they were so nervous they needed Cognac before going on air

The pair claim they were only in Salisbury for an hour because of gaps in the Sunday train service to London and said if they stumbled upon Sergei Skripal's suburban house it was only by accident

Alexander Petrov, right in CCTV footage, and Ruslan Boshirov, left, were named by British authorities as the suspects but insisted they are victims of a smear and were merely on holiday 

One of the spies admitted they may have got lost and accidentally ended up near Skripal's house despite the cathedral and its 400ft tower easily seen from all over the city

Skripal assassins claim they are 'decent lads' who were on a day trip to admire Salisbury 

Europe's most wanted men spoke out for the first time today and insisted they are the victims of a smear campaign. 

Here is a transcript from RT's website, which will show the interview in full later.

RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said: 'You called me on my cellphone and told me you were Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov.  You really look like the pictures shown to us by the UK. Who are you?'

Petrov replied: 'We are those who were shown to you in the pictures - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov.'

Simonyan said: 'Are those your real names?' - Boshirov replied: 'Yes they are our real names.'

Simonyan said: 'Even now when you're talking about it, to tell the truth you look very nervous.'

Petrov said: 'What would you look like?'

Boshirov said: 'When your life is turned upside down in a moment. In just one day it changed our lives.'

Simonyan asked: 'On the CCTV footage from London you were wearing the now famous coats and sneakers in Salisbury. Are those people you?'

They both replied: 'Yes that's us.'

Simonyan asked: 'What were you doing there?'

Petrov said: 'Our friends had been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town.'

Simonyan asked: 'Salisbury? A wonderful town?'

Both replied: 'Yes.'

Boshirov said: 'There's the famous Salisbury Cathedral, famous not only in Europe but in the whole world. It's famous for its 123-metre spire, it's famous for its clock, the one of the first-ever created in the world that is still working.'

Simonyan said: 'What do you think about the whole Skripal case?'

Petrov replied: 'We are living in it. You can't imagine what it's like. We'd like if one day the real perpetrators are found and we're given an apology.'

Simonyan asked: 'By who, the perpetrators?'

Petrov replied: 'By UK authorities. I'm lost. I don't know what day it is. We can't go outside, we can't go to the petrol station, you can't imagine what our lives turned into.'

Simonyan asked: 'Are you being recognised on the streets?'

The pair said: 'Of course, our faces are on TV every day, they talk about us on the radio, every time we turn on the TV we see our faces. 

'We hear our names: Boshirov, Petrov. Would you be able to live like that?'

Boshirov added: 'I try not to watch the news, it's over and over and over again every day.'

Simonyan asked: 'What are you going to do next?'

Boshirov said: 'We just want this to be over.'

Simonyan asked the men directly: 'Do you work for the GRU?'

Boshirov replied: 'And do you?'

Simonyan said: 'Me? No. And do you?'

Petrov added: 'And I don't either.'

Simonyan said: 'But no one accuses me of working for the GRU. But you are being accused of that.'

Boshirov replied: 'Your colleagues accuse us of that.'

Simonyan fired back: 'By 'your colleagues' you mean journalists. You are being accused by UK authorities.'

Boshirov appears to speak while the English translation of Simonyan's question is played over the clip.

His words go untranslated.

Petrov said: 'Yes, that's the scariest thing.'

Simonyan replied: 'Where do you work? You're adults, you need to make a living.'

Petrov said: 'If we tell you about our business, people we work with will be affected.'

Boshirov also replied to the question and Petrov follows up on his initial answer but RT did not translate the statements.

Simonyan pushed the pair to answer: 'Tell anything so that we believe you. Everyone has questions. What do you do?' 

Petrov replied: 'To cut a long story short we're in the fitness industry.'

Their bungled assassination attempt in March failed but tragically claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess who found the weapon three months later and sprayed it on her wrist believing it was Nina Ricci Premier Jour perfume.

But the men today described themselves as 'decent lads' working in the sports nutrition business and said they were in Wiltshire to visit Stonehenge but couldn't get there because of snow.

Instead they went to the 'after a recommendation from a friend - not to smear nerve agent on Sergei Skripal's front door.

But Boshirov also admitted they may have stumbled upon the former spy's suburban home - half an hour's walk from the station and away from the city centre - but only by accident.

He said: 'Maybe we did [approach] Skripal's house, but we don't know where it was located'.  

Today critics said the men were lying in an interview with a TV station often branded Putin's propaganda machine.

Salisbury MP John Glen said today:He added: 'Salisbury welcomes tourists from around the world and is very much open for business. But the Petrov/Borishov statements are not credible and don't match the widely accepted intelligence we have on these individuals'.

Boshirov denied ever hearing the name Skripal, saying: 'I didn't know, I haven't heard - until this situation, until this nightmare with us started, I haven't heard this last name [Skripal], I knew nothing about them. We are asking for your protection'.

RT editor Margarita Simonyan, who interviewed them last night, asked the two men whether they had Novichok or any poison with them, the emphatically said no.

Boshirov said: 'Is it silly for decent lads to have women's perfume? The customs are checking everything, they would have questions as to why men have women's perfume in their luggage. We didn't have it'.

Britain insists the men were sent by the Russia state, who handed them 'perfect' aliases and ID documents used to secure UK visa. 

Traces of novichok were also found in their budget hotel room in east London, where they stayed during their short trip to the UK in March. 

But the men say that they are the victims of a smear campaign and were holidaymakers.

Petrov, who only a week ago said he knew nothing about Salisbury and had been in Siberia, told RT: 'We arrived in Salisbury on March 3 and tried to walk through the town, but we lasted for only half an hour because it was covered in snow'.

'Of course, we went there to see Stonehenge but we couldn't do it because there was muddy slush everywhere. We got wet, took the nearest train and came back [to London]'.

Boshirov added: We spent no more than an hour in Salisbury, mainly because of the lags between trains'.

Detectives believe the two suspects, thought to be aged around 40, travelled under aliases and that Petrov and Boshirov are not their real names.

Officers formally linked the attack on the Skripals to events in nearby Amesbury where Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, were exposed to the same nerve agent.

Ms Sturgess died in hospital in July, just over a week after the pair fell ill.

A police officer who visited the home of the Skripals shortly after the attack, Nick Bailey, was also left critically ill from exposure to the substance. 

Yesterday the Russian President claimed they were civilians not GRU military spies - despite Britain's evidence the men were sent by the Russian state to kill former spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia.

Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Mr Putin said: 'We have checked what kind of people they are. We know who they are, we have found them. There is nothing criminal in it'. 

The men at the centre of the scandal have finally admitted they were in Salisbury - days after denying it.

One man - who appears to work for a drugs company in Tomsk, Siberia, making a vaccine against smallpox - snubbed him by refusing to speak before next week.

'No comment for the moment. Maybe later. Next week, I think,' a man identified as Alexander Petrov was reported to have told State television channel Rossiya-24. 

Last week the same man had told Russian TV: 'I don't know a thing about it. And I have nothing to do with the Skripal story.'

He claimed he was the victim of mistaken identity, and denied possessing a foreign passport.

'This is a complete coincidence,' he said. 'Let alone London, I can't even manage to get to the Altai Mountains (in southern Siberia).'

The other suspect, Ruslan Boshirov, also named by anti-terror police in London, had not spoken until today.

Responding to the interview of Petrov and Boshirov, a Government spokesman said: 'The Police and Crown Prosecution Service have identified these men as the prime suspects in relation to the attack in Salisbury.

'The Government is clear these men are officers of the Russian military intelligence service - the GRU - who used a devastatingly toxic, illegal chemical weapon on the streets of our country.

'We have repeatedly asked Russia to account for what happened in Salisbury in March. Today - just as we have seen throughout - they have responded with obfuscation and lies.'

The Russian media has even suggested that Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were on a gay trip to Britain to help back up their story.

One online news portal even started a poll asking readers whether the pair were 'agents made to be gays or gays made to be agents'.

The speculation began when they were asked by RT: 'Speaking about normal men, on the (CCTV) video you are shown always together. You were together, lived together, walked everywhere together. What does in fact connect you?'

Boshirov replied: 'Let's not pry into our private lives.'

When online speculation began over their sexuality, interviewer 38 year old Margarita Simonyan - who is head of the Kremlin 'propaganda' channel - retorted: 'I do not know if they are gays or not.

'They are quite fashionable - with little beards, hair cuts, tight pants, sweaters tight over big biceps. They did not harass me. Anyway I'm already out of the harassable age. 

She added: 'During the interview I told them that the world least of all worries with the question if they slept in one bed or not' 

Vladimir Putin, pictured at an economic forum in Russia yesterday, claims his country's authorities have found the men suspected of the Novichok attack and say their trip to Britain was not criminal

RT editor Margarita Simonyan tweeted today that she spent the evening with the suspects and suggested that they will deny any part in the plot

Viktoria Skripal, niece of poisoned ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, said yesterday:  'According to my information, real Alexander Petrov was not in the UK at that time. These are ordinary people. Petrov's work is even not related to the government.'

She said Petrov and Boshirov 'are in complete bewilderment and shock over what's happening.

'I knew it from the first day that this whole story about involvement of Petrov and Boshirov is fake.'

This claim appeared to contradict Putin who said the Russian government had 'found' the pair identified by Britain.

MailOnline revealed that the suspects casually window-shopped in Salisbury just minutes after they tried to murder former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

The exclusive first footage seen of the killers shows the two men looking relaxed and good-humoured as they sauntered down the street towards Salisbury station to make their getaway.

The suspects were handed genuine Russian passports and then secured visas from the British embassy in Moscow under bogus aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov to avoid detection during their murder mission in March.

Their passports were repeatedly used on trips from Moscow to Amsterdam, Geneva, Milan and Paris between September 2016 and March 2018 with British investigators now scrambling to work out exactly what the Russian spies were doing in Europe.

Petrov's passport was also used in London on February 28 2017 - a year before their botched mission to kill former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent smeared on his front door in suburban Salisbury.

The travel details have been published by Fontanka, an independent Russian media outlet with a strong track record of investigative reporting into Putin's regime.

Hamish de Bretton Gordon, one of Britain's top chemical weapons experts, told MailOnline that UK security sources have briefed him that the men, who were GRU military agents, had watertight backstories that helped them avoid being stopped at the UK border.

He said: 'The passports were perfect in every detail including all the electrics and circuitry. It fooled the British border electronic security which is considered to be among the best around. We also gave them visas they must have had a plausible back story'.

Mr de Bretton Gordon suggested that Russia may even have hacked the UK's border security system to make doubly sure they were not flagged as 'people of interest' and interviewed. The Home Office today denied this.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said Vladimir Putin is 'ultimately responsible' for the novichok attack because of his tight grip on the GRU spy network which sent two 'calamitous' state assassins on a 'pathetic' mission to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

He said: 'The state had clearly decided to sit behind this action and lend its logistics. The men were given genuine passports, provided with aliases that survived a certain level of test and visas used by many law-abiding Russians to visit Britain for holidays or business.

'The Russian state, which we know had invented novichok, must have made sure it was put in a package that was there to disguise it. If you let them into your system, airside in Russia, it becomes a harder thing to detect'.

Mr Wallace said he is '100 per cent sure' the men named carried out the attack and claimed that Vladimir Putin has ultimate responsibility for the actions of his spies - but added: 'This was more Johnny English than James Bond'.

He said: 'Ultimately he does, insofar as he is president of the Russian Federation and it is his government that controls, funds and directs the military intelligence - that's the GRU - via his minister of defence. I don't think that anyone can ever say that Mr Putin isn't in control of his state'.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, pictured today, reiterated claims by British authorities that the men were Russian intelligence agents and accused the Kremlin of 'lies'

A critic of Putin's regime has claimed the suspects are 'already dead' and that a search for them is futile. 

Andrei Piontkovsky believes that Petrov and Boshirov could have been executed to hide traces of the alleged crime.

He compared the case to that of Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, the men accused by Britain of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko with polonium in 2006.

Lugovoy and Kovtun went public to deny the claims soon after being accused, meaning the Russian authorities then protected them, said Piontkovsky. 

'Lugovoy and Kovtun rescued themselves by running to Ecko (radio station) and going public,' the respected mathematician and political analyst said.

'One (Lugovoy) even had to be made an MP. If 'Petrov' and 'Bashirov' don't appear in the coming days, it means they are already dead.'

Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons last week that CCTV evidence 'clearly' places the two Russians in the vicinity of the Skripals' house shortly before the attack on them.

The Met Police released photographs of the elaborate ruse used by the Russian agents including a perfect reconstruction of packaging to transport the weapon