New Developments in Skripal Case: The “Novichkov∎ Formula Was Available for to Anyone With 28 Dollars

Anton Lyadov reports on what's new.

The book was written by a man who calls himself one of the creators of the chemical weapon system which has become widely known as Novichok, as Theresa May calls it. The author is Vil Mirzayanov, a former Soviet scientist who was convicted. Later, he moved to the United States. There are hundreds of chemical formulas, among them there is detailed information about the A-234 nerve agent — this particular substance is used in the Novichok system. For the last few weeks, London has been claiming that it was Russia that produced this substance. However, as you can see, anyone can purchase the detailed instructions for 28 dollars.

 

An excerpt from a BBC interview with Vil Mirzayanov:

- Is it possible to synthesize this substance outside of Russia?

- You can, but only by highly qualified scientific and technical personnel. Even if British experts created the substance according to my formulas, it does not yet mean that they have gone through all the stages of testing this substance and the main stage—weaponizing the substance. This is a very expensive process.

It is curious that funds were allocated to British chemists at the same time as the Skripal case exploded. And the amount is huge.

Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Defense: "We are investing 48 million pounds in a new chemical weapons defense center."

Five days later, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in a rare admission, makes a shocking statement as he admits that Britain has the Novichok nerve agent system. Here's the Deutsche Welle interview:

Bori Johnson: When I looked at the evidence, I'm referring to the findings of the Porton Down lab experts.

- Do they have samples?

- Yes, they do. And they were absolutely certain in their conclusions."

It seems that the British have implicated themselves. Evidently, all the necessary infrastructure for developing the nerve agent is in place there too. These are satellite images of the secret Porton Down laboratory; red circles mark new buildings that have emerged recently. The images were provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense just this week.

Igor Kirillov, the Head of the Russian NBC Protection Troops: "While all countries in the world are striving to destroy chemical weapon reserves, Britain, on the contrary, is actively developing a laboratory in Porton Down. Under the pretext of developing countermeasures against chemical and biological weapons, it continues to conduct experiments and expose its own people to terrible danger".

The nerve agent poses a truly colossal danger. One liter is enough to poison a whole city. Chemistry Professor Leonid Rink, PhD, is one of those who worked on creating this system in Soviet times, says that its mission is completely different.

Leonid Rink: Novichok is not a substance, of course. This is a very complex system. It was developed in order to infect some territory or something via an explosive delivery system or via a spray device mounted on an aircraft or a rocket.

- Pertaining to its physics, how does it work?

- There are two liquids. They must mix and cause this whole system to explode or pour from a great height.

- How would it explode? By ignition?

- No, this is inside the shell, inside the bomb. First, the bomb drops and a reaction occurs inside. Then, after a precisely calculated amount of time, it explodes and is scattered over a large area.

Experts are puzzled about how such a system could have been used for an attack on an individual.

Leonid Rink: "They say that Skripal's daughter brought the ingredients to London and told her father, 'Hold on, dad, I will mix something.' Well, that would have killed the unfortunate little man and all the people in the cafe. This is crazy nonsense of a madman".

In other words, it's basically the same as shooting a ballistic missile to kill a single man. But none of the visitors to the cafe, except for the Skripals, was affected. In order to find out what poisoned Skripal, you need a sample of the chemical agent. However, the British side refuses to send it to Moscow.

Leonid Rink: "We'll instantly prove our innocence. Every country prepares binary systems in the way their scientists consider necessary. Such a complex system cannot be reproduced".

But the actions of the British show that they knew how Skripal would be poisoned, says Dmitry Gladyshev (PhD in Chemistry), an expert on poisonous substances.

Dmitry Gladyshev: "Measures were taken very promptly to ensure that people survived. It means that before help was provided, toxicologists and doctors already had information that they were dealing with organophosphorus and they initiated appropriate countermeasures. It seems they gave them an antidote. Because there's no way that they could have treated such a serious condition without an antidote".

Leonid Rink: "I believe that our frenemies bet on the Russian name without thinking that it's not a mono-substance but rather a large system. A rookie mistake".

London doesn't even try to investigate the case thoroughly, doing everything to set up the world community against Russia.

Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister: "I think it would be better for all, especially for London, to stop stressing, and they are obviously stressing about this situation, and calm down. It's crucial to investigate the facts. First, where are Mr. Skripal and his daughter now? And secondly, why will the investigation last several months, as reported by Scotland Yard, when the British government has already rendered its verdict?"

Moscow was forced to expel British diplomats in response to the actions of London. Meanwhile, Russia is ready to join a transparent investigation on Skripal's case at any time.

Anton Lyadov, Anton Gubanov Stanislav Ponomarenko, and Andrey Karpenko Vesti: News of the Week.