The two Russians at the center of the Sergei Skripal poisoning case appeared on RT on Thursday, saying they had been wrongly accused by Britain of trying to murder a former Russian spy and his daughter in England, and that they had visited Salisbury in March as part of a tourist visit to the city's cathedral.
British prosecutors last week identified the two men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, and claim they were operating under aliases when they used a military-grade nerve agent in England.
"Our friends had been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town," one of the men said about Salisbury, where the Novichok poisoning incident took place, in a short clip of the interview broadcast on RT.
Screenshot of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov speaking to RT's editor-in-chief in an exclusive interview./ RT Photo
They said they may have approached Sergei Skripal's house by chance but did not know where it was located. They stayed less than an hour in Salisbury because of bad weather, they said.
Britain has said the two suspects were Russian military intelligence officers almost certainly acting on orders from high up in the Russian state. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the case.
Skripal - a former Russian military intelligence colonel who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service - and his daughter were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the English city of Salisbury in March. They spent weeks in hospital before being discharged.
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Timeline: The poisoning of ex-Russian spy Skripal
A police notice is attached to screening surrounding a restaurant which was visited by former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia before they were found on a park bench after being poisoned in Salisbury, Britain, March 19, 2018. /VCG Photo
The two men said they did not work for the GRU but are ordinary businessmen who are the victims of what they called "a fantastical coincidence."
The duo surfaced a day after President Vladimir Putin said Russia had located Petrov and Boshirov, but that there was nothing special or criminal about them. He expressed the hope they would come forward and speak publicly.