Novichok

{{Short description|Series of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union}} {{Redirect|Foliant|chemicals used to remove leaves|Defoliant}} {{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}} {{Protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Chemical agents sidebar |nerve}}

'''Novichok''' ({{langx|ru|Новичо́к|lit=newcomer, novice, newbie}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2163502-what-are-novichok-nerve-agents-and-did-russia-do-it/|title=What are Novichok nerve agents and did Russia do it?|date=13 March 2018|author=Klein, Alice |work=NewScientist}}</ref>) is a family of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993.<ref name=lowe/><ref name="chai18">{{cite journal |last1=Chai |first1=Peter R. |last2=Hayes |first2=Bryan D. |last3=Erickson |first3=Timothy B. |last4=Boyer |first4=Edward W. |title=Novichok agents: a historical, current, and toxicological perspective |journal=Toxicology Communications |date=January 2018 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=45–48 |doi=10.1080/24734306.2018.1475151 |pmid=30003185 |pmc=6039123 |s2cid=49661943 }}</ref><ref name="Cong" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2006|pp=231–233}}</ref>{{Efn|Jonathon B. Tucker writes that approval to commence research into "fourth generation" chemical weapons was given by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet Council of Ministers in May 1971. Vil Mirzayanov, the Russian scientist who first alerted the West to the existence of the Novichok agents, states that testing of Novichok-7 was successfully completed in 1993—after the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention but before Russia ratified the treaty and when it came into force.<ref name="Cong">{{Cite report |work=Global Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, 104th Cong. |pages=393–405 |year=1995 |title="Dismantling the Soviet/Russian Chemical Weapons Complex: An Insider's View" |first=Vil |last=Mirzayanov}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Harvnb|Tucker|2006|p=231}}</ref>}} Some Novichok agents are solids at standard temperature and pressure, while others are liquids. Dispersal of solid form agents is thought possible if in ultrafine powder state.<ref>{{cite news |title=Navalny 'poisoned': What are Novichok agents and what do they do? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43377698 |publisher=BBC News |date=2 September 2020 }}</ref>

Russian scientists who developed the nerve agents claim they are the deadliest ever made, with some variants possibly five to eight times more potent than VX,<ref name="Birstein"/><ref name="Albats">{{Harvnb|Albats|1994|pp=325–328}}</ref> and others up to ten times more potent than soman.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croddy|Wirtz|Larsen|2001|p=201}}</ref> Iran has also been associated with the production of such chemical agents.<ref name="hosseini16">{{cite journal |last1=Hosseini |first1=Seyed Esmaeil |last2=Saeidian |first2=Hamid |last3=Amozadeh |first3=Ali |last4=Naseri |first4=Mohammad Taghi |last5=Babri |first5=Mehran |title=Fragmentation pathways and structural characterization of organophosphorus compounds related to the Chemical Weapons Convention by electron ionization and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry: Mass spectral studies of organophosphorus compounds related to CWC |journal=Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry |date=30 December 2016 |volume=30 |issue=24 |pages=2585–2593 |doi=10.1002/rcm.7757 |pmid=27704643 |bibcode=2016RCMS...30.2585H }}</ref>

In the twenty-first century, Novichok agents came to public attention after they were used to poison opponents of the Russian government, including in the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom which resulted in the poisonings of 5 people and the death of an unrelated civilian in Amesbury (2018), as well as the poisoning of Alexei Navalny (2020). However, the use of Novichok domestically against Russian citizens has been known since at least 1995.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pérez-Peña |first=Richard |date=2020-09-02 |title=What Is Novichok, the Russian Nerve Agent Tied to Navalny Poisoning? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/world/europe/novichok-skripal.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In November 2019, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is the executive body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), added the Novichok agents to "list of controlled substances" of the CWC "in one of the first major changes to the treaty since it was agreed in the 1990s" in response to the 2018 poisonings in the UK.<ref name="castelvecchi19">{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-03686-y |title=Novichok nerve agents banned by chemical-weapons treaty |year=2019 |last1=Castelvecchi |first1=Davide |journal=Nature |pmid=33244185|s2cid=213503403 }}</ref>

== Design objectives == Novichok agents were designed to achieve four objectives:<ref>{{Harvnb|Salem|Katz|2014|pp=498–499}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Kendall|Presley|Austin|Smith|2008|p=136}}</ref>

* to be undetectable using standard 1970s and 1980s NATO chemical detection equipment; * to defeat NATO chemical protective gear; * to be safer to handle; and * to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention list of controlled precursors, classes of chemical and physical form.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Greaves|first1=Ian|last2=Hunt|first2=Paul|chapter=Ch. 5 Chemical Agents|year=2010|pages=233–344|title=Responding to Terrorism. A Medical Handbook|isbn=978-0-08-045043-8|publisher=Elsevier|doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-045043-8.00005-2|quote=The Novichok class of agents were reportedly developed in an attempt to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Treaty (chemical weapons are banned on the basis of chemical structure and therefore a new chemical agent is not subject to past treaties). They have reportedly been engineered to be undetectable by standard detection equipment and to defeat standard chemical protective gear...Novichok agents may consist of two separate 'non-toxic' components that, when mixed, become the active nerve agent...The binary concept—mixing or storing two less toxic chemicals and creating the nerve agent within the weapon—was safer during storage.}}</ref>

Some of these agents are binary weapons, in which precursors for the nerve agents are mixed in a munition to produce the agent just prior to its use. The precursors are generally significantly less hazardous than the agents themselves, so this technique makes handling and transporting the munitions a great deal simpler. Additionally, precursors to the agents are usually much easier to stabilise than the agents themselves, so this technique also makes it possible to increase the shelf life of the agents. This has the disadvantage that careless preparation may produce a non-optimal agent. During the 1980s and 1990s, binary versions of several Soviet agents were developed and are designated as "Novichok" agents.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

== History and disclosure == Novichok agents were designed as part of a Soviet program codenamed '''Foliant'''.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Pitschmann|2014|p=1765}}</ref> Five Novichok variants are believed to have been adapted for military use.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2006|p=233}}</ref> The most versatile is A-232 (Novichok-5).<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2006|p=253}}</ref> Novichok agents have never been used on the battlefield. The UK government determined that a Novichok agent was used in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England in March 2018. This was unanimously confirmed by four laboratories around the world, according to the OPCW.<ref name="OPCWreport">{{Cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/S_series/2018/en/s-1612-2018_e_.pdf |title=Note by the technical secretariat |website=www.opcw.org |date=12 April 2018|access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref>

Novichok was also involved in the poisoning of a British couple in Amesbury, Wiltshire, four months later, believed to have been caused by residual nerve agent discarded after the Salisbury attack.<ref name="bbc-20180705" /> The attacks led to the death of one person,<ref>{{cite news |title=Murder inquiry after Novichok woman dies |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44760875 |publisher=BBC News |date=9 July 2018 }}</ref> left three others in a critical condition from which they recovered, and briefly hospitalised a police officer. The Russian government denies producing or researching agents "under the title Novichok".<ref name="Borger">{{Cite news|title=UK spy poisoning: Russia tells UN it did not make nerve agent used in attack|first=Julian|last=Borger|date=15 March 2018|access-date=15 March 2018|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/uk-spy-poisoning-russia-tells-un-it-did-not-make-nerve-agent-used-in-attack}}</ref> In September 2020, the German government said that opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who was evacuated from Omsk to Berlin for treatment in late August after becoming ill during his flight, was poisoned by a Novichok agent.

Novichok has been known to most Western intelligence services since the 1990s,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/03/21/unknown-newcomer-novichok-was-long-known-a1596490|title='Unknown' newcomer novichok was long known|publisher=NRC|date=21 March 2018 |access-date=12 January 2019 |last1=Knip |first1=Karel }}</ref> and in 2016 Iranian chemists working at a university in Tehran synthesised five of the seven Novichok agents for analysis and produced detailed mass spectroscopy data which was added to the OPCW's Central Analytical Database.<ref name="spectroscopynow-20170101" /><ref name="rcms-20161005">{{cite journal |title=Fragmentation pathways and structural characterization of organophosphorus compounds related to the Chemical Weapons Convention by electron ionization and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry |vauthors=Hosseini SE, Saeidian H, Amozadeh A, Naseri MT, Babri M |journal=Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry |volume=30 |issue=24 |pages = 2585–2593|doi=10.1002/rcm.7757 |pmid=27704643 |date=5 October 2016 |bibcode=2016RCMS...30.2585H }}</ref> Previously, there had been no detailed descriptions of their spectral properties in peer-reviewed general scientific literature.<ref name="spectroscopynow-20170101">{{cite web |url=http://www.spectroscopynow.com/details/ezine/1591ca249b2/Iranian-chemists-identify-Russian-chemical-warfare-agents.html |title=Iranian chemists identify Russian chemical warfare agents |author=De Vooght-Johnson, Ryan |work=spectroscopyNOW.com |publisher=Wiley |date=1 January 2017 |access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="opcw-20130327">{{cite report |page=3 |url=https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/CSP/RC-3/en/rc3wp01_e_.pdf |title=Report of the Scientific Advisory Board on developments in science and technology for the Third Review Conference |id=RC-3/WP.1 |publisher=Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons |date=27 March 2013 |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> A small amount of agent A-230 was also claimed to have been synthesised in the Czech Republic in 2017 for the purpose of obtaining analytical data to help defend against these novel toxic compounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/5175483 |title=Земан: в Чехии производился и складировался нервно-паралитический газ 'Новичок' |trans-title=Zeman: The nerve agent 'Novichok' was produced and stored in the Czech Republic |website=tass.ru}}</ref>

The Soviet Union and Russia reportedly developed extremely potent fourth-generation chemical weapons from the 1970s until the early 1990s, according to a publication by two chemists, Lev Fyodorov and Vil Mirzayanov, in ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' weekly in 1992.<ref>{{Harvnb|Darling|Noste|2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Fyodorov |first1=Lev |first2=Vil |last2=Mirzayanov |title=A Poison Policy |work=Moscow News |issue=39 |date=20 September 1992 |author-link2=Vil Mirzayanov}}</ref>{{efn|Mirzayanov had made a similar disclosure a year earlier in the 10 October 1991 issue of the Moscow newspaper ''Kuranty''.<ref>{{Cite journal |work=Chemical Weapons Convention Bulletin |issue=18|date=December 1992|title=News Chronology: August through November 1992|page=14|access-date=18 March 2018|url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/documents/CWCB18.PDF}}</ref>}} The publication appeared just on the eve of Russia's signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention. According to Mirzayanov, the Russian Military Chemical Complex (MCC) was using defence conversion money received from the West for development of a chemical warfare facility.<ref name="Birstein">{{Harvnb|Birstein|2004|p=110}}</ref><ref name="Albats"/> Mirzayanov made his disclosure out of environmental concerns. He was the head of a counter-intelligence department and performed measurements outside the chemical weapons facilities to make sure that foreign spies could not detect any traces of production. To his horror, the levels of deadly substances were eighty times greater than the maximum safe concentration.<ref name="Albats"/><ref name="Vil">{{cite web |url=https://www.stimson.org/content/chemical-weapons-disarmament-russia-problems-and-prospects | title=Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Russia: Problems and Prospects; Dismantling the Soviet/Russian Chemical Weapons Complex: An Insider's View | publisher=Henry L. Stimson Center |location=Washington, D.C. | date=13 October 1995}}</ref>

The Prosecutor-General of Russia effectively admitted the existence of Novichok agents when he brought a treason case against Mirzayanov. According to expert witness testimonies that three scientists prepared for the KGB, Novichok and other related chemical agents had indeed been produced and therefore Mirzayanov's disclosure represented high treason.{{efn|"[T]he talk [by Mirzayanov] about binary weapons was no more than a verbal construct, an argument ''ex adverso'', and only the MCC [Russian Military Chemical Complex] could corroborate or refute this natural assumption. By entangling V. S. Mirzayanov in the investigation, the MCC confirmed the stated hypothesis, advancing it to the ranks of proven facts."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/cbw/jptac008_l94001.htm|title=Chemical Weapons in Russia: History, Ecology, Politics|first=Lev|last=Fedorov|date=27 July 1994|access-date=13 March 2018}}</ref>}}

Mirzayanov was arrested on 22 October 1992 and sent to Lefortovo prison for divulging state secrets. He was released later because "not one of the formulas or names of poisonous substances in the ''Moscow News'' article was new to the Soviet press, nor were locations ... of testing sites revealed."<ref name="Albats"/> According to Yevgenia Albats, "the real state secret revealed by Fyodorov and Mirzayanov was that generals had lied—and were still lying—to both the international community and their fellow citizens."<ref name="Albats"/> Mirzayanov now lives in the U.S.<ref name="Hoffman">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/wasteside1.htm |title=Wastes of War: Soviets Reportedly Built Weapon Despite Pact |first=David|last=Hoffman |date=16 August 1998 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=20 July 2007}}</ref>

Further disclosures followed when Vladimir Uglev, one of Russia's leading binary weapons scientists, revealed the existence of A-232/Novichok-5 in an interview with the magazine ''Novoye Vremya'' in early 1994.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB855787549252167000|title=The Chemical Weapons Coverup|first=J. Michael|last=Waller|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=13 February 1997|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> In his 1998 interview with David E. Hoffman for ''The Washington Post'' the chemist claimed that he helped invent the A-232 agent, that it was more frostproof, and confirmed that a binary version has been developed from it.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/wasteside1.htm|title=WashingtonPost.com: Cold War Report|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Uglev revealed more details in 2018, following the poisoning of the Skripals, stating that "several hundred" compounds were synthesised during the Foliant research but only four agents were weaponised (presumably the Novichok-5, −7, −8 and −9 mentioned by other sources): the first three were liquids and only the last, which was not developed until 1980, could be made into a powder. Unlike the interview twenty years earlier, he denied any binary agents were developed successfully, at least up until his involvement in the research ceased in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebell.io/en/the-scientist-who-developed-novichok-doses-ranged-from-20-grams-to-several-kilos/|title=The scientist who developed "Novichok": "Doses ranged from 20 grams to several kilos"|date=20 March 2018|website=thebell.io|author1=Reiter, Svetlana|author2=Gevorkyan, Natalia|access-date=24 March 2018|archive-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201190608/https://thebell.io/en/the-scientist-who-developed-novichok-doses-ranged-from-20-grams-to-several-kilos/|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2018}}

In the 1990s, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) obtained a sample of one Novichok agent from a Russian scientist, and the sample was analysed in Sweden, according to a 2018 ''Reuters'' report. The chemical formula was given to Western NATO countries, who synthesized it, then used small amounts to test protective equipment, detection of it, and antidotes to it.<ref name=siebold>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-chemicalweapons-german/wests-knowledge-of-novichok-came-from-sample-secured-in-1990s-report-idUSKCN1IH2HC |title=West's knowledge of Novichok came from sample secured in 1990s: report |author1=Siebold, Sabine |author2=Shalal, Andrea |publisher=Reuters |date=16 May 2018 |access-date=24 May 2018}}</ref>

Novichok was referred to in a patent filed in 2008 for an organophosphorus poisoning treatment. The University of Maryland, Baltimore research was funded in part by the U.S. Army.<ref name=uspto-20090023706/>

Professor Leonid Rink, who said he had participated in the creation of Novichok agents,<ref name=cock>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/novichok-nerve-agent-poison-soviet-russia-salisbury-attack-leonid-rink-vladimir-uglev-the-bell-a8265626.html|title=Soviet-era scientists contradict Moscow's claims Russia never made Novichok nerve agent|date=20 March 2018|work=The Independent|author=Cockburn H.}}</ref> confirmed that the structures leaked by Mirzayanov were the correct ones.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/102483035/boris-johnson-compares-russian-world-cup-to-hitlers-1936-olympics|title=Boris Johnson compares Russian World Cup to Hitler's 1936 Olympics|website=stuff.co.nz|date=22 March 2018}}</ref> Rink was himself convicted in Russia for illegally selling a Novichok agent used in 1995 to assassinate a banker, Ivan Kivelidi, and his secretary.<ref name=murder>{{Cite news|publisher=The Guardian |last=Roth|first=Andrew|date=23 March 2018|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/nerve-agent-was-used-in-1995-claims-former-soviet-scientist |title=Nerve agent was used in 1995 murder, claims former Soviet scientist}}</ref><ref name=lowe>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-stockpiles/secret-trial-shows-risks-of-nerve-agent-theft-in-post-soviet-chaos-experts-idUSKCN1GQ2RH|title=Secret trial shows risks of nerve agent theft in post-Soviet chaos: experts|date=20 March 2018|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref>

David Wise, in his book ''Cassidy's Run'', implies that the Soviet program may have been the unintended result of misleading information, involving a discontinued American program to develop a nerve agent code named "GJ", that was fed by a double agent to the Soviets as part of Operation Shocker.<ref name="Flynn Fired">{{cite journal |last1=Flynn |first1=Michael |last2=Garthoff |first2=Raymond L. |last3=Flynn |first3=Michael |title=Playing with Fire |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=September 2000 |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=35–40 |doi=10.1080/00963402.2000.11456992 |bibcode=2000BuAtS..56e..35F |s2cid=218769448 }}</ref>

==Development and test sites== Stephanie Fitzpatrick, an American geopolitical consultant, has claimed that the Chemical Research Institute in Nukus, Soviet Uzbekistan,<ref name="Croddy">{{Harvnb|Croddy|Wirtz|Larsen|2001|pp=201–202}}</ref> produced Novichok agents, and ''The New York Times'' has reported that U.S. officials said the site was the major research and testing site for Novichok agents.<ref name=nyt-19990525/><ref name=Hidalgo/> Small, experimental batches of the weapons may have been tested on the nearby Ustyurt Plateau.<ref name="Hidalgo"/> Fitzpatrick also writes that the agents may have been tested in a research centre in Krasnoarmeysk near Moscow.<ref name="Croddy"/> Precursor chemicals were made at the Pavlodar Chemical Plant in Soviet Kazakhstan, which was also thought to be the intended Novichok weapons production site, until its still-under-construction chemical warfare agent production building was demolished in 1987 in view of the forthcoming 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord and the Chemical Weapons Convention.<ref name=nti-201504>{{cite news |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/countries/kazakhstan/chemical/ |title=Kazakhstan – Chemical |newspaper=Nuclear Threat Initiative |date=April 2015 |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref><ref name=bozheyeva-2000>{{cite report |url=https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/72bozh.pdf |title=The Pavlodar Chemical Weapons Plant in Kazakhstan: History and Legacy |last=Bozheyeva |first=Gulbarshyn |publisher=The Nonproliferation Review |date=Summer 2000 |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>

Since its independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has been working with the government of the United States to dismantle and decontaminate the sites where the Novichok agents and other chemical weapons were tested and developed.<ref name="Croddy" /><ref name="Hidalgo"/> Between 1999<ref name=rferl-19990819>{{cite news |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1091987.html |title=Uzbekistan: U.S. Begins Survey Of Chemical Weapons Plant |last=Hogan |first=Beatrice |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=19 August 1999 |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> and 2002 the United States Department of Defense dismantled the major research and testing site for Novichok at the Chemical Research Institute in Nukus, under a $6 million Cooperative Threat Reduction program.<ref name=nyt-19990525>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Judith |title=U.S. and Uzbeks Agree on Chemical Arms Plant Cleanup |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/25/world/us-and-uzbeks-agree-on-chemical-arms-plant-cleanup.html |work=The New York Times |date=25 May 1999 }}</ref><ref name=cfr-20030319>{{cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108shrg87824/html/CHRG-108shrg87824.htm |title=Hearing, First Session |first=John S.|last=Wolf |work=Committee on Foreign Relations |publisher=United States Senate |date=19 March 2003 |access-date=13 March 2018 |quote=Hon. John S. Wolf, Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation: ... DOD completed a project to dismantle the former Soviet CW research facility at Nukus, Uzbekistan in FY 2002.}}</ref>

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a British chemical weapons expert and former commanding officer of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment and its NATO equivalent, "dismissed" suggestions that Novichok agents could be found in other places in the former Soviet Union such as Uzbekistan and has asserted that Novichok agents were produced only at Shikhany in Saratov Oblast, Russia.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Novichok: nerve agent produced at only one site in Russia, says expert|first=Ewen|last=MacAskill|date=14 March 2018|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/nerve-agent-novichok-produced-russia-site-expert|access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> Mirzayanov also says that it was at Shikhany, in 1973, that scientist Pyotr Petrovich Kirpichev first produced Novichok agents; Vladimir Uglev joined him on the project in 1975.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wise|2000|p=273}}</ref> According to Mirzayanov, while production took place in Shikhany, the weapon was ''tested'' at Nukus between 1986 and 1989.<ref name="Birstein"/>

Following the poisoning of the Skripals, former head of the GosNIIOKhT security department Nikolay Volodin confirmed in an interview to ''Novaya Gazeta'' that there have been tests at Nukus, and said that dogs were used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/03/23/75908-demonstrativnoe-ubiystvo-mozhno-bylo-organizovat-prosche|title='Новичок' – это слишком для одного Скрипаля|work=Novaya Gazeta|date=22 March 2018}}</ref>

In May 2018, the ''Irish Independent'' reported that "Germany's foreign intelligence service secured a sample of the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok in the 1990s and passed on its knowledge to partners including Britain and the US, according to German media reports." The sample was analysed in Sweden.<ref>"[https://www.independent.ie/world-news/germany-obtained-sample-of-novichok-in-the-1990s-reports-suggest-36917157.html Germany obtained sample of Novichok in the 1990s, reports suggest]". ''Irish Independent''. 18 May 2018.</ref> Small amounts of the Novichok nerve agent were subsequently produced in some NATO countries for test purposes.<ref>"[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-chemicalweapons-german/wests-knowledge-of-novichok-came-from-sample-secured-in-1990s-report-idUSKCN1IH2HC West's knowledge of Novichok came from sample secured in 1990s: report]". Reuters. 18 May 2018.</ref>

== Description of Novichok agents == thumb|right|300px|Examples of structures claimed as Novichok agents<ref>{{Harvnb|Hoenig|2007|pp=79–80}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Mirzayanov|2008|pp=142–145, 179–180}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Ellison|2008|pp=37–42}}</ref><ref name="gupta339-340">{{Harvnb|Gupta|2015|pp=339–340}}</ref><ref>Konopski L. (2009) ''Historia broni chemicznej'', Warszawa: Bellona. {{ISBN|978-83-11-11643-6}}</ref><ref>Balali-Mood M, Abdollahim M., Eds. (2014) ''Basic and Clinical Toxicology of Organophosphorus Compounds'', Springer. {{ISBN|978-1447156253}}</ref><ref name=franca19>{{cite journal|doi=10.3390/ijms20051222|title=Novichoks: The Dangerous Fourth Generation of Chemical Weapons|year=2019|last1=Franca|first1=Tanos|last2=Kitagawa|first2=Daniel|last3=Cavalcante|first3=Samir|last4=Da Silva|first4=Jorge|last5=Nepovimova|first5=Eugenie|last6=Kuca|first6=Kamil|journal=International Journal of Molecular Sciences|volume=20|issue=5|page=1222|pmid=30862059|pmc=6429166|doi-access=free}}</ref> thumb|right|300px|Mirzayanov's further examples of structures claimed as Novichok agents <!-- Franca TCC, Kitagawa DAS, Cavalcante SFA, da Silva JAV, Nepovimova E, Kuca K. Novichoks: The Dangerous Fourth Generation of Chemical Weapons. ''Int J Mol Sci''. 2019 Mar 11;20(5):1222. -->

Mirzayanov provided the first description of these agents.<ref name="Vil"/> Dispersed in an ultra-fine powder instead of a gas or a vapour, they have unique qualities. A binary agent was then created that would mimic the same properties but would either be manufactured using materials which are not controlled substances under the CWC,<ref name="Hoffman"/> or be undetectable by treaty regime inspections.<ref name="Hidalgo">{{cite news |title=US dismantles chemical weapons |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/415742.stm |work=BBC News |date=9 August 1999 }}</ref> The most potent compounds from this family, Novichok-5 and Novichok-7, are supposedly around five to eight times more potent than VX.<ref name=peplow/> The "Novichok" designation refers to the binary form of the agent, with the final compound being referred to by its code number (e.g. A-232). The first Novichok series compound was in fact the binary form of a known V-series nerve agent, VR,<ref name="peplow">{{Citation|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/i12/Nerve-agent-attack-on-spy-used-Novichok-poison.html|title=Nerve agent attack on spy used 'Novichok' poison|date=19 March 2018|volume=96|issue=12|work=Chemical & Engineering News|first=Mark|last=Peplow|access-date=16 March 2018|page=3}}</ref> while the later Novichok agents are the binary forms of compounds such as A-232 and A-234.<ref name=Halámek2011/>

[[File:Novichok A230 (Mirzayanov 2009).svg|thumb|Chemical structure of the Novichok agent known as A-230]] According to a classified (secret) report by the US Army National Ground Intelligence Center in ''Military Intelligence Digest'' dated 24 January 1997,{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} agent designated A-232 and its ethyl analogue A-234 developed under the Foliant programme "are as toxic as VX, as resistant to treatment as soman, and more difficult to detect and easier to manufacture than VX". The binary versions of the agents reportedly use acetonitrile and an organic phosphate "that can be disguised as a pesticide precursor."

thumb|upright|Example of a declared Novichok derivative, researched in Iran in 2016

The agent A-234 is also supposedly around five to eight times more potent than VX.<ref>{{cite news |title=Johnson blames Putin for nerve agent attack |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43429152 |work=BBC News |date=16 March 2018 }}</ref><ref name=peplow/>

The median lethal dose for inhaled A-234 has been estimated as 7&nbsp;mg/m³ for two minute exposure (minute volume of 15 L, slight activity).<ref name=franca19/> The median lethal dose for inhaled A-230, likely the most toxic liquid Novichok, has been estimated as between 1.9 and 3&nbsp;mg/m³ for two minute exposure. Thus the median lethal dose for inhaled A-234 is 0.2&nbsp;mg (5000 lethal doses in a gram) and is below 0.1&nbsp;mg for A-230 (10 000 lethal doses in a gram). [[File:A-234_Mirzayanov.svg|thumb|Chemical structure of the Novichok agent known as A-234<ref name="chai18"/>]] The agents are reportedly capable of being delivered as a liquid, aerosol or gas via a variety of systems, including artillery shells, bombs, missiles and spraying devices.<ref name="Croddy" />

===Controversy over formulation=== Mirzayanov gives somewhat different structures for Novichok agents in his autobiography than those which have been identified by Western experts.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://archiv.uni-nke.hu/downloads/aarms/docs/Volume6/Issue1/pdf/15vasa.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314042412/http://archiv.uni-nke.hu/downloads/aarms/docs/Volume6/Issue1/pdf/15vasa.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 March 2018 |first1=Györgyi |last1=Vásárhelyi |first2=László |last2=Földi |title=History of Russia's chemical weapons |journal=AARMS |date=2007 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=135–146 }}</ref> The Western formulations suffered from imperfect information,<ref name=siebold/> as can be seen in Fig. 1 of Chai ''et al'' in which Mirzayanov describes a family of compounds whereas Western scientists instantiate a particular salt.<ref name=chai18/>

Mirzyanov makes clear that a large number of compounds were made, and many of the less potent derivatives were reported in the open literature as new organophosphate insecticides,<ref>eg: Sokolov VB, Martynov IV. Effect of Alkyl Substituents in Phosphorylated Oximes. ''Zhurnal Obshchei Khimii''. 1987; 57(12):2720–2723.</ref> so that the secret chemical weapons program could be disguised as legitimate pesticide research.

===Chemistry=== According to chemical weapons expert Jonathan Tucker, the first binary formulation developed under the Foliant programme was used to make Substance 33 (VR), very similar to the more widely known VX, differing only in the alkyl substituents on its nitrogen and oxygen atoms. "This weapon was given the code name Novichok."<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/i12/Nerve-agent-attack-on-spy-used-Novichok-poison.html |title=Nerve agent attack on spy used 'Novichok' poison |date=19 March 2018 |volume=96 |issue= 12 |page=3 |journal=Chemical & Engineering News |first=Mark |last=Peplow |access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Novichok synthesis.png|400px|thumb|Synthesis of the A230, A232, and A234 structures as described in Hoenig.<ref name=hoenig>Hoenig SL. Compendium of chemical warfare agents. New York (NY): Springer; 2006.</ref> Ethanediol modified with up to two methyl groups is reacted with phosphorus trichloride to form a ring structure named as a phospholane analogue. The last chlorine atom is replaced by fluorine (nucleophilic substitution). This compound is then reacted with a phosgene oxime-like chloride to open the ring and create the product fluorophosphonate.<ref name=Halámek2011>{{cite journal |last1=Halámek |first1=E. |last2=Kobliha |first2=Z. |title=Potential Chemical Warfare Agents |journal=Chemické Listy |date=15 June 2011 |volume=105 |issue=5 |url=http://www.chemicke-listy.cz/ojs3/index.php/chemicke-listy/article/view/1136 }}</ref>]] A wide range of potential structures have been reported. These all feature the classical organophosphorus core (sometimes with the P=O replaced with P=S or P=Se), which is most commonly depicted as being a phosphoramidate or phosphonate, usually fluorinated (cf. monofluorophosphate). The organic groups are subject to more variety; however, a common substituent is phosgene oxime or analogues thereof. This is a potent chemical weapon in its own right, specifically as a nettle agent, and would be expected to increase the harm done by the Novichok agent. Many claimed structures from this group also contain cross-linking agent motifs which may covalently bind to the acetylcholinesterase enzyme's active site in several places, perhaps explaining the rapid denaturing of the enzyme that is claimed to be characteristic of the Novichok agents.

Zoran Radić, a chemist at the University of California, San Diego, performed an ''in silico'' docking study with Mirzayanov's version of the A-232 structure against the active site of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. The model predicted a tight fit with high binding affinity and formation of a covalent bond to a serine residue in the active site, with a similar binding mode to established nerve agents such as sarin and soman.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=U.K. attack shines spotlight on deadly nerve agent developed by Soviet scientists |last=Stone |first=R. |date=19 March 2018 |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.aat6324 }}</ref>

===Detection=== A procedure of retrospective detection of Novichok type poisons in victim's tissues was proposed in 2021-2.<ref name = Noort>Daan Noort,* Alex Fidder, Debora van der Riet-van Oeveren, Ruud Busker, and Marcel J. van der Schans. Verification of Exposure to Novichok Nerve Agents Utilizing a Semitargeted Human Butyrylcholinesterase Nonapeptide Assay. ''Chem. Res. Toxicol.'' 2021, 34, 1926−1932</ref><ref>Fatemeh Mirbabaei, Ali Mohammad‑Khah, Mohammad Taghi Naseri, Mehran Babri, Sajjad Mousavi Faraz, Seyyed Esmaeil Hosseini, Davood Ashrafi. Unambiguous identification and determination of A234‑Novichok nerve agent biomarkers in biological fluids using GC–MS/MS and LC–MS/MS ''Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry'' (2022) 414:3429-3442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-03964-1</ref> This method is a modification of the procedure that was developed earlier for identification of sarin poisoning.<ref name = Fidder>Fidder, A., Noort, D., Hulst, A. G., De Ruiter, R., Van der Schans, M. J., Benschop, H. P., and Langenberg, J. P. (2002) Retrospective detection of exposure to organophosphorus anti-cholinesterases: mass spectrometric analysis of phosphylated human butyrylcholinesterase. ''Chem. Res. Toxicol.'' 15, 582−590.</ref> This method capitalizes on the fact that poisoning by organic phosphonates occurs via phosphonylation of the hydroxy group of serine in the active site of cholinesterases,<ref name = Fidder/> and that severe poisoning occurs when a major part of these enzymes are inactivated. The concentration of butyryl cholinesterase (HuBuChE) in human plasma is normally about 80 nM.<ref name = Fidder/> That makes it a good source of adducts that can be subjected to analysis.

The procedure consists of three steps (see the Figure A). First, HuBuChE is obtained from the victim's plasma. Second, the enzyme is subjected to pepsin proteolysis. Third, the peptide mixture obtained is subjected to LC-MSMS analysis.<ref name = Noort/> If no poisoning took place, the peptide mixture contains a non-modified nonapeptide FGESAGAAS. However, cholinesterases are inactivated due to a chemical reaction with Novichok type nerve agent, the modified nonapeptide is be detected, and its exact (high resolution) mass (along with the mass of the secondary ion produced during collision induced dissociation) allows unambiguous identification of the fact of poisoning and the exact structure of the poison.<ref name = Noort/> Thus, the example at Figure A shows the masses of the primary and secondary ions obtained from the plasma of the victim poisoned by A-230. If a victim is poisoned by other Novichok type agents, the masses are different.<ref name = Noort/>

This method allows identification of poisons at a few parts per billion, but that may be insufficient for reliable detection of the isotopic signature of the adducts, and therefore an unambiguous identification of the geographic origin of the poison.<ref>{{cite web |author=Howes, Laura |title=Novichok compound poisoned Navalny. German government reports toxicology findings on samples from poisoned Russian politician. |work=C&EN |volume=98, Issue 35 |date=September 8, 2020 |url=https://cen.acs.org/analytical-chemistry/forensic-science/Novichok-compound-poisoned-Navalny/98/i35}}</ref>

[[File:NovichokDetectionByLC-HRMSMS.svg|400px|thumb|left|Figure A. Procedure of retrospective assessment of exposure to Novichok type nerve agent.<ref name = Noort/> A-230 is used as an example. Ser-198 (the active site residue whose phosphonylation irreversibly inactivates the enzyme) is shown in red. The ion with m/z of 970.34750 is directly detected during LC-MS, whereas the ion with m/z of 193.11002 is observed during collision induced dissociation experiments.]]

== Lifetime == According to Vladimir Uglev, who headed a group that worked on the development of the Novichok agents,<ref name=murder/> at least one liquid form of Novichok is very stable with a slow evaporation rate and can remain potent for possibly up to 50 years.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/novichok-nerve-agent-how-salisbury-amesbury-incident-happen-explained-latest-a8433166.html|title=This is how two people could have been poisoned with novichok again|work=The Independent|access-date=6 July 2018}}</ref> Insufficient research has been conducted to fully understand its persistence in various situations in the environment.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hay |first1=Alastair |title=Why Novichok stays deadly for so long |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-44778697 |work=BBC News |date=11 July 2018 }}</ref>

== Effects and countermeasures == As nerve agents, the Novichok agents belong to the class of organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. These chemical compounds inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, preventing the normal breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine concentrations then increase at neuromuscular junctions to cause involuntary contraction of all skeletal muscles (cholinergic crisis). This then leads to respiratory and cardiac arrest (as the victim's heart and diaphragm muscles no longer function normally) and finally death from heart failure or suffocation as copious fluid secretions fill the victim's lungs.<ref name=duodote>{{cite web |url=https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=241f42a0-1a33-40e8-8221-201767d999e5 |title=Label: DuoDote – atropine and pralidoxime chloride |publisher=National Institutes of Health |location=Bethesda, MD |date=30 September 2009 |access-date=9 April 2016 |author=Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc.}}</ref>

As can be seen with other organophosphate poisonings, Novichok agents may cause lasting nerve damage, resulting in permanent disablement of victims, according to Russian scientists.<ref name="Stewart">{{cite book|title=Weapons of Mass Casualties and Terrorism Response Handbook|last=Stewart|first=Charles Edward|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7637-2425-2}}</ref> Their effect on humans was demonstrated by the accidental exposure of Andrei Zheleznyakov, one of the scientists involved in their development, to the residue of an unspecified Novichok agent while working in a Moscow laboratory in May 1987. He was critically injured and took ten days to recover consciousness after the incident. He lost the ability to walk and was treated at a secret clinic in Leningrad for three months afterwards. The agent caused permanent harm, with effects that included "chronic weakness in his arms, a toxic hepatitis that gave rise to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, spells of severe depression, and an inability to read or concentrate that left him totally disabled and unable to work." He never recovered and, after five years of deteriorating health, died in July 1992.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tucker|2006|p=273}}</ref>

The use of a fast-acting peripheral anticholinergic drug such as atropine can block the receptors where acetylcholine acts to prevent poisoning (as in the treatment for poisoning by other acetylcholinesterase inhibitors). Atropine, however, is difficult to administer safely, because its effective dose for nerve agent poisoning is close to the dose at which patients suffer severe side effects, such as changes in heart rate and thickening of the bronchial secretions, which fill the lungs of someone suffering nerve agent poisoning so that suctioning of these secretions, and other advanced life support techniques, may be necessary in addition to administration of atropine to treat nerve agent poisoning.<ref name="duodote" />

In the treatment of nerve agent poisoning, atropine is most often administered along with a Hagedorn oxime such as pralidoxime, obidoxime, TMB-4, or HI-6, which reactivates acetylcholinesterase which has been inactivated by phosphorylation by an organophosphorus nerve agent and relieves the respiratory muscle paralysis caused by some nerve agents. Pralidoxime is not effective in reactivating acetylcholinesterase inhibited by some older nerve agents such as soman<ref name=duodote/> or the Novichok nerve agents, described in the literature as being up to eight times more toxic than the nerve agent VX.<ref name="gupta339-340"/>

The US Army has funded studies of the use of galantamine along with atropine in the treatment of a number of nerve agents, including soman and the Novichok agents. An unexpected synergistic interaction was seen to occur between galantamine (given between five hours before to thirty minutes after exposure) and atropine in an amount of 6&nbsp;mg/kg or higher. Increasing the dose of galantamine from 5 to 8&nbsp;mg/kg decreased the dose of atropine needed to protect experimental animals from the toxicity of soman in dosages 1.5 times the LD50 (lethal dose in half the animals studied).<ref name="uspto-20090023706">{{cite web |url=http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&s1=20090023706.PN.&OS=PN/20090023706&RS=PN/20090023706 |title=Method of Treating Organophosphorous Poisoning |id=Patent Application 20090023706 |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office |date=22 January 2009 |access-date=10 April 2018 |archive-date=13 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713225511/http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&s1=20090023706.PN.&OS=PN%2F20090023706&RS=PN%2F20090023706 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There have been differing claims about the persistence of Novichok and binary precursors in the environment. One view is that it is not affected by normal weather conditions, and may not decompose as quickly as other organophosphates. However, Mirzayanov states that Novichok decomposes within four months.<ref name=telegraph-20180705>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/04/novichok-salisbury-public-thought-safe-could-happen-four-months/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/04/novichok-salisbury-public-thought-safe-could-happen-four-months/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Novichok in Salisbury: The public thought it was safe ... so how could this happen four months later? |author1=Allen, Nick |author2=Horton, Helena |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 July 2018 |access-date=5 July 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=bbc-20180705>{{cite news |title=Wiltshire pair poisoned by Novichok nerve agent |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44719639 |publisher=BBC News |date=5 July 2018 }}</ref>

==Instances of usage== ===Poisoning of Ivan Kivelidi and Zara Ismailova=== [[File:Novichok agent formula from Kivelidi case.svg|thumb|Supposed Novichok agent formula from the forensic analysis in the Kivelidi case<ref>{{cite news|last=Shleynov|first=Roman |url=https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/03/22/75896-rezhim-novichka|title="Новичок" уже убивал|trans-title='Novichok' has already killed|work=Novaya Gazeta|issue=30|date=23 March 2018|access-date=24 March 2018|language=ru}}</ref>]] A Novichok agent was used in 1995 to poison Russian banker {{ill|Ivan Kivelidi|ru|Кивелиди, Иван Харлампиевич}}, who died three days later in a hospital at the age of 46.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Stanley|first=Alessandra|date=1995-08-09|title=To the business risks in Russia, add poisoning|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/09/world/moscow-journal-to-the-business-risks-in-russia-add-poisoning.html|access-date=2020-09-06}}</ref> The poison was believed to have been applied to Kivelidi's office phone in Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shleynov|first=Roman|date=2018-04-10|title=Novichok has already killed|url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/7905-novichok-has-already-killed|access-date=2020-09-06}}</ref> His secretary Zara Ismailova also developed symptoms one month later and then died a day later in a hospital at the age of 35.<ref name=":3" /> Kivelidi was the head of the Russian Business Round Table, and had close ties to Viktor Chernomyrdin,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/murders-panic-russian-business-elite-1595409.html |title=Murders panic Russian business elite |newspaper=The Independent |date=8 August 1995}}</ref> who was at that time Prime Minister of Russia. Russian opposition–linked historians Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky speculated that the murder became "one of the first in the series of poisonings organised by Russia's security services".

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs analysed the substance and announced that it was "a phosphorus-based military-grade nerve agent"<ref name="FP453-457">{{Harvnb|Felshtinsky|Pribylovsky|2009|pp=453–457}}</ref> "whose formula was strictly classified".<ref name="FP453-457"/> According to Nesterov, the administrative head of Shikhany, he did not know of "a single case of such poison being sold illegally" and noted that the poison "is used by professional spies".<ref name="FP453-457"/>

Vladimir Khutsishvili, a former business partner of Kivelidi's, was subsequently convicted of the killings.<ref name="kommersant">{{Cite news|last1=Strokan |first1=Sergey |last2=Yusin |first2=Maksim|last3=Safronov |first3=Ivan |last4= Korostikov|first4=Mikhail |last5=Inyutin |first5=Vsevolod |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3570019|title=И яд следовал за ним|trans-title=And the poison followed him|work=Kommersant|date= 13 March 2018|issue=41|page=1|access-date=13 March 2018|language=ru}}</ref> According to ''The Independent'', "A closed trial found that his business partner had obtained the substance via intermediaries from an employee of the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (ГосНИИОХТ / GosNIIOKhT),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.trust.org/item/20180314181331-8936f/|title=Secret trial shows risks of nerve agent theft in post-Soviet chaos – experts|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|date=20 March 2018|access-date=22 March 2018|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119070318/http://news.trust.org/item/20180314181331-8936f/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which was involved in the development of Novichok agents. However, Khutsishvili, who claimed that he was innocent, had not been detained at the time of the trial and freely left the country. He was only arrested in 2006 after he returned to Russia, believing that the ten-year old case was closed.<ref name="FP453-457"/> Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky claimed that Russia's security services, which had access to the chemical agent, had framed Khutsishvili for the murder, and that the security services had organised the murder on the orders of a senior Russian state official.<ref name="FP453-457"/> Boris Kuznetsov, who represented Khutsishvili and believed in his innocence, blames "rogue intelligence officers".<ref name=lowe/>

Leonid Rink, an employee of GosNIIOKhT, received a one-year suspended sentence for selling Novichok agents to unnamed buyers "of Chechen ethnicity" soon after the poisoning of Kivelidi and Izmailova.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/uk-russia-nerve-agent-attack-spy-poisoning-sergei-skripal-salisbury-accusations-evidence-explanation-a8258911.html |title=Why is the UK accusing Russia of launching a nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, and what is the evidence? |newspaper=The Independent |date=16 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/03/22/75896-rezhim-novichka|title="Novichok" has been already used for killing ("Новичок" уже убивал)|work=Novaya Gazeta|date=22 March 2018}}</ref>

===Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal=== {{main|Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal}}

On 12 March 2018, the UK government said that a Novichok agent had been used in an attack in the English city of Salisbury on 4 March 2018 in an attempt to kill former GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.<ref name="bbc12march">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43377856|title=Russian spy: Highly likely Moscow behind attack, says Theresa May|work=BBC News|date=12 March 2018|access-date=12 March 2018}}</ref> British Prime Minister Theresa May said in Parliament: "Either this was a direct action by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others."<ref name="bbc12march"/> On 13 March the BBC asked Vladimir Putin if Russia was "behind the poisoning of" Skripal and he answered "Get to the bottom of it first then we can discuss it" while he delegated a spokesperson to claim that "a circus show in the British parliament" was the upshot. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, refused to shake hands with Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko as he expressed "outrage" over the attack.<ref name="bbcputin">{{cite news |title=Highly likely Russia behind spy attack – PM |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43377856 |work=BBC News |date=13 March 2018 }}</ref> On the next day, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats after the Russian government refused to meet the UK's deadline of midnight on 13 March 2018 to give an explanation for the use of the substance.<ref>{{cite news |title=UK to expel 23 Russian diplomats |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43402506 |work=BBC News |date=14 March 2018 }}</ref> Addressing the United Nations Security Council on 15 March, Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian envoy to the UN, responded to the British allegations by denying that Russia had ever produced or researched the agents, stating: "No scientific research or development under the title Novichok were carried out."<ref name=Borger/>

After the attack, 21 members of the emergency services and public were checked for possible exposure, and three were hospitalised. As of 12 March, one police officer remained in hospital.<ref name=bbc12march/> Five hundred members of the public were advised to decontaminate their possessions to prevent possible long-term exposure, and 180 members of the military and 18 vehicles were deployed to assist with decontamination at locations in and around Salisbury. Up to 38 people in Salisbury have been affected by the agent to an undetermined extent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-spys-poisoning-uk-believed-nerve-agent-car/story?id=53832515 |title=Russian ex-spy's poisoning in UK believed from nerve agent in car vents; at least 38 others sickened: Sources |last1=Moran |first1=Terry |last2=Vlasto |first2=Chris |last3=Meek |first3=James |date= 18 March 2018|website=ABCNews.com |access-date=22 March 2018 |quote=The intelligence officials told ABC News up to 38 individuals in Salisbury have been identified as having been affected by the nerve agent but the full impact is still being assessed and more victims sickened by the agent are expected to be identified }}</ref>

Daniel Gerstein, a former senior official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said it was possible that Novichok nerve agents had been used before in Britain to assassinate Kremlin targets, but had not been detected: "It's entirely likely that we have seen someone expire from this and not realised it. We realised in this case because they were found unresponsive on a park bench. Had it been a higher dose, maybe they would have died and we would have thought it was natural causes."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barry |first1=Ellen |last2=Yeginsu |first2=Ceylan |title=The Nerve Agent Too Deadly to Use, Until Someone Did |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/world/europe/uk-russia-spy-poisoning.html |work=The New York Times |date=13 March 2018 }}</ref>

On 20 March 2018, Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW, said that it would take "another two to three weeks to finalise the analysis" of samples taken from the poisoning of Skripal.<ref>"[https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/two-three-weeks-analyze-samples-salisbury-attack-opcw-doc-12w0he1 Two to three weeks to analyse samples from Salisbury attack: OPCW] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325110151/https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/two-three-weeks-analyze-samples-salisbury-attack-opcw-doc-12w0he1 |date=25 March 2018 }}". Agence France-Presse. 20 March 2018.</ref> On 3 April 2018, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory announced that it was "completely confident" that the agent used was Novichok, although they still did not know the "precise source" of the agent. Experts said that their findings did not challenge the conclusions by UK government: "We provided that information to the Government who have then used a number of other sources to come to the conclusions that they have."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.itv.com/news/2018-04-03/defence-experts-unsure-of-source-behind-novichok-spy-attack-salisbury/ |title=Defence experts 'unsure' of source behind novichok spy attack |publisher=ITV |date=3 April 2018 |access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> On 12 April 2018 the OPCW announced that their investigations agreed with the conclusions made by the UK about the identity of the chemical used.<ref name=OPCWreport /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-issues-report-on-technical-assistance-requested-by-the-united-kingdom/|title=OPCW Issues Report on Technical Assistance Requested by the United Kingdom|website=www.opcw.org|access-date=13 April 2018}}</ref>

By September 2018, two Russian "tourists", "Alexander Petrov" and "Ruslan Boshirov", had been identified as suspects. They told Margarita Simonyan, the chief editor of RT television, in an interview that they both worked in the sports nutrition business and that: "Those are our real names.. We're afraid to go out, we fear for ourselves, our lives and lives of our loved ones." The Crown Prosecution Service announced enough evidence was obtained by that date "to convict the two men" of the attack, although it did not apply to Russia "for their extradition because Russia does not extradite its own nationals. [...] However, a European Arrest Warrant has been obtained in case they travel to the EU".<ref name="bbcruslan">{{cite news |title=Skripal suspects: 'We were just tourists in Salisbury' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45509697 |work=BBC News |date=13 September 2018 }}</ref>

In February 2019, the Bellingcat website published precise allegations that identified GRU Major Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev as a man who travelled in March 2018 to London under the false identity of Sergei Fedotov. It is claimed with detailed photograph evidence, and phone, travel, passport, and motoring database records that GRU Colonels Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga assumed the identities of Petrov and Boshirov,<ref name=bellsec>{{cite web|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/10/08/second-skripal-poisoning-suspect-identified-as-dr-alexander-mishkin/|title=Second Skripal Poisoning Suspect Identified as Dr. Alexander Mishkin|date=8 October 2018|access-date=10 October 2018|publisher=Bellingcat}}</ref> and placed the poison on Skripal's doorknob. On 28 June 2019, it was reported that Sergeyev received instructions from his GRU superior by cell phone on more than ten occasions during his UK visits.<ref name="bbcurban">{{cite news |last1=Urban |first1=Mark |title=Skripal poisoning: Third man 'commanded attack' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48801205 |work=BBC News |date=28 June 2019 }}</ref>

===Poisoning of Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess=== {{main|2018 Amesbury poisonings}}

On 30 June 2018, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were found unconscious at a house in Amesbury, Wiltshire, about eight miles from the Salisbury poisoning site.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two collapse near spy poisoning site |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-44707052 |work=BBC News |date=4 July 2018 }}</ref> On 4 July 2018, police said that the pair had been poisoned with the same nerve agent as ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal.<ref name=bbc-20180705/>

On 8 July 2018, Sturgess died as a result of the poisoning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-woman-dies-following-exposure-to-nerve-agent-in-amesbury-313621|title=UPDATE: Woman dies following exposure to nerve agent in Amesbury|website=Metropolitan Police|access-date=8 July 2018|archive-date=31 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731163831/http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-woman-dies-following-exposure-to-nerve-agent-in-amesbury-313621|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rowley regained consciousness and began recovering in hospital.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.sky.com/story/amesbury-novichok-victims-brother-says-nerve-agent-was-found-in-perfume-bottle-11438688 |title=Amesbury novichok victim's brother says nerve agent was 'found in perfume bottle' |website=Sky News|date= 17 July 2018}}</ref> He told his brother Matthew the nerve agent had been in a small perfume or aftershave bottle, which they had found in a park about nine days before spraying themselves with it. The police later closed and fingertip-searched Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Steven |title=Novichok poisonings: victim Charlie Rowley discharged from hospital |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/18/novichok-poisonings-police-search-salisbury-park-visited-by-couple |work=The Guardian |date=20 July 2018 }}</ref>

=== Poisoning of Emilian Gebrev === In the aftermath of the Skripal poisoning, investigative journalists were able to track some of the people involved also in Bulgaria.<ref>{{Cite news|date=4 September 2020|title=Post-Mortem of a Triple Poisoning: New Details Emerge in GRU's Failed Murder Attempts in Bulgaria|work=Bellingcat Investigation Team|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/09/04/gebrev-survives-poisonings-post-mortem/|access-date=18 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Shaun|last2=Georgieva|first2=Maria|date=18 February 2019|title='I almost died': arms dealer whose poisoning may be linked to Skripals'|work=Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/18/i-almost-died-arms-dealers-poisoning-may-be-linked-to-skripals|access-date=18 September 2020}}</ref> This is how another suspected poisoning case dating back to April 2015 during their stay in the country was linked to the Novichok nerve agent. The victim was the Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev, who shared two hypotheses why he might have been attacked: The first one links to the fact that his arms manufacturing company Dunarit exports defense equipment to Ukraine. The other one relates to an attempt by an offshore company to take over Dunarit. The takeover attempt was ultimately linked to the influential Bulgarian politician and oligarch Delyan Peevski who has historically been funded by Russia's state-owned VTB Bank.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Maza|first1=Cristina|date=8 February 2019|title=Investigators Allege Third Member of Russian Military Intelligence Involved in Poisoning Former Double Agent in Britain|work=Newsweek|url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-military-intelligence-poisoning-skripal-1324653|access-date=18 September 2020}}</ref> In November 2023 Bulgaria sought the extradition of three Russian GRU officers, Sergey Fedotov, Georgi Gorshkov and Sergey Pavlov, suspected of the poisoning incident.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bulgaria seeks extradition of three spies from Russia in Novichok case |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/bulgaria-seeks-extradition-of-three-spies-from-russia-in-novichok-case/ |date=21 November 2023}}</ref> Sergei Fedotov was also the alias used by one of the assassins in the Salisbury poisonings.

=== Poisoning of Alexei Navalny === {{Main|Poisoning of Alexei Navalny}}

On 20 August 2020, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last1=Chappell|first1=Bill|last2=S. Schwartz|first2=Matthew|date=22 August 2020|title=Navalny Being Treated In Germany For Suspected Poisoning After Departing Russia|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/904612108/officials-block-family-s-attempts-to-transfer-navalny-from-siberian-hospital?t=1599057185752|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref> The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last1=Rising|first1=David|last2=Litvinova|first2=Daria|date=28 August 2020|title=Hospital: Russia's Navalny still in coma but improving|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/cf9fa2b8964536eceb56cf7010200b12|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref> His family suspected his illness was caused by a poison put into a cup of tea he drank before the flight.<ref name=":0" /> He was evacuated to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, the following day.<ref name=":0" /> On 2 September, the German government said that it had "unequivocal evidence" that Navalny was poisoned by a Novichok agent after tests at a German military lab and had called on the Russian government for an explanation, with labs in France and Sweden corroborating the findings.<ref name="GuardianNovichok">{{Cite news|date=2 September 2020|title=Alexei Navalny poisoned with Novichok, says German government|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/02/alexei-navalny-poisoned-with-novichok-says-german-government-russia|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=2 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902141413/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/02/alexei-navalny-poisoned-with-novichok-says-german-government-russia|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 4 September, the North Atlantic Council was briefed by the German representative on the "appalling assassination attempt on" Navalny. In a post-meeting press conference, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO allies "agree that Russia has serious questions it must answer", that the OPCW needed to conduct an impartial investigation, that "those responsible for this attack must be brought to justice" and called on Russia to "provide complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the OPCW."<ref name="jsnato">{{cite news |last1=Mohammedi |first1=Jessica |title=Affaire Navalny: l'Otan exhorte la Russie à révéler "totalement" son programme Novitchok |url=https://video.lefigaro.fr/figaro/video/affaire-navalny-lotan-exhorte-la-russie-a-reveler-totalement-son-programme-novitchok/ |agency=AFP |publisher=Le Figaro |date=4 September 2020 |language=fr}}</ref>

Navalny had been out of his coma since 7 September.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54061370|title = Russia's Navalny out of coma after poisoning|work = BBC News|date = 7 September 2020}}</ref>

On 6 October, the OPCW confirmed the presence of a cholinesterase inhibitor from the Novichok group in Navalny's blood and urine samples.<ref name=OPCWRpt>{{Cite web|title=OPCW Issues Report on Technical Assistance Requested by Germany|url=https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2020/10/opcw-issues-report-technical-assistance-requested-germany |date=2020-10-06 |access-date=2020-10-06 |website=OPCW |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=OPCW: Novichok found on Alexei Navalny samples {{!}} DW {{!}} 06.10.2020|url=https://www.dw.com/en/opcw-novichok-found-on-alexei-navalny-samples/a-55176999|access-date=2020-10-06|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwirtz|first=Michael|date=2020-10-14|title=Nerve Agent Was Used to Poison Navalny, Chemical Weapons Body Confirms|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/world/europe/navalny-opcw-russia-novichok.html|access-date=2020-10-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Deutsch|first=Anthony|date=2020-10-06|title=Chemical weapons body confirms nerve agent Novichok in Navalny's blood|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny-chemicalweapo-idUSKBN26R2GQ|access-date=2020-10-20}}</ref> At the same time, the OPCW report clarified that Navalny was poisoned with a new type of Novichok, which was not included in the list of controlled chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-06|title=OPCW confirms that Navalny was poisoned with a toxin resembling Novichok not included under its existing bans|url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2020/10/06/opcw-confirms-that-navalny-was-poisoned-with-a-toxin-resembling-novichok-not-included-under-its-existing-bans|access-date=2020-10-21|website=meduza.io}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Talmazan|first=Yuliya|date=2020-10-07|title=New questions arise after chemical weapons body confirms Novichok in Navalny's blood|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-faces-new-questions-after-chemical-weapons-body-confirms-novichok-n1242390|access-date=2020-10-21|website=NBC News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-10-06|title=ОЗХО заявила об отравлении Навального новым типом "Новичка"|trans-title=OPCW announced the poisoning of Navalny with a new type of "Novichok"|url=https://www.interfax.ru/world/730265|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Interfax|language=ru}}</ref>

== See also == * Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services * Russia and weapons of mass destruction

===List of Novichok agents=== * A-230 * A-232 * A-234 * A-242 * A-262 (Novichok-7) * C01-A035 * C01-A039 * C01-A042

==References== === Explanatory notes === {{notelist|notes=}}

=== Citations === {{reflist}}

=== General and cited references === {{Refbegin}} * {{Citation|first1=Yevgenia|last1=Albats|author-link1=Yevgenia Albats|translator-first=Catherine A.|translator-last=Fitzpatrick|title=The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia&nbsp;– Past, Present, and Future|publisher=Farrar Straus & Giroux|location=New York|year=1994|isbn=978-0-374-18104-8|url=https://archive.org/details/statewithinstate00alba}} * {{Citation|first=Vadim J.|last=Birstein|title=The Perversion of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science|publisher=Westview Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8133-4280-1}} * {{Citation|title=Ciottone's Disaster Medicine|pages=489–498|edition=Second|year=2016|chapter=Future Biological and Chemical Weapons|editor-first=Gregory R.|editor-last=Ciottone|first1=Robert G.|last1=Darling|first2=Erin E.|last2=Noste|doi=10.1016/B978-0-323-28665-7.00080-7|publisher=Elsevier|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-323-28665-7|s2cid=132183263|doi-access=free|pmc=7152330}} * {{Citation|title=Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Essential Reference Guide|editor-first1=Eric A.|editor-last1=Croddy|editor-first2=James J.|editor-last2=Wirtz|editor-first3=Jeffrey A.|editor-last3=Larsen|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2001|isbn=978-1-85109-490-5}} * {{Citation|first=D. Hank|last=Ellison|title=Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents|publisher=CRC Press|edition=Second|url=https://archive.org/details/D.HankEllisonHandbookOfChemicalAndBiologicalWarfareAgents|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8493-1434-6|place=Boca Raton}} * {{Citation|first1=Yuri|last1=Felshtinsky|first2=Vladimir|last2=Pribylovsky|author-link2=Vladimir Pribylovsky|title=The Corporation: Russia and the KGB in the Age of President Putin|publisher=Encounter Books|location=London|year=2009|isbn=978-1-59403-246-2}} * {{Citation|title=Handbook of Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents|publisher=Academic Press|editor-last=Gupta|editor-first=Ramesh C.|year=2015|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=978-0-12-800494-4}} * {{Citation|last=Hoenig|first=Steven L.|title=Compendium of Chemical Warfare Agents|year=2007|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-387-34626-7}} * {{Citation|title=Advances in Biological and Chemical Terrorism Countermeasures|first1=Ronald J.|last1=Kendall|first2=Steven M.|last2=Presley|first3=Galen P.|last3=Austin|first4=Philip N.|last4=Smith|publisher=CRC Press|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4200-7654-7}} * {{Citation|title=Toxic Politics: The Secret History of the Kremlin's Poison Laboratory – from the Special Cabinet to the Death of Litvinenko|first=Paul|last=McGregor|publisher=Praeger|year=2011|isbn=978-0-313-38746-3}} * {{Citation|author-link=Vil Mirzayanov|last=Mirzayanov|first=Vil S.|year=2008|publisher=Outskirts Press|title=State Secrets: An Insider's Chronicle of the Russian Chemical Weapons Program|isbn=978-1-4327-2566-2}} * {{Citation|last=Pitschmann|first=Vladimír|year=2014|title=Overall View of Chemical and Biochemical Weapons|journal=Toxins|volume=6|issue=6|pages=1761–1784|doi=10.3390/toxins6061761|pmid=24902078|pmc=4073128|url=https://archive.org/details/pubmed-PMC4073128|doi-access=free}} * {{Citation|title=Inhalation Toxicology|editor-first1=Harry|editor-last1=Salem|editor-first2=Sidney A.|editor-last2=Katz|publisher=CRC Press|year=2014|edition=3rd|isbn=978-1-4665-5273-9}} * {{Citation|last=Tucker|first=Jonathon B.|title=War of Nerves|publisher=Anchor Books|location=New York|year=2006|isbn=978-0-375-42229-4|url=https://archive.org/details/warofnerveschemi00tuck}} * {{Citation|title=Cassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas|first=David|last=Wise|year=2000|publisher=G.K. Hall & Co|location=Thorndike, ME|isbn=978-0-7838-9144-6|url=https://archive.org/details/cassidysrunsecre00wise_0}} {{Refend}}

==Further reading== * {{Citation|title=Russia's Dirty Chemical Secret|first=Cliff|last=Kincaid|work=American Legion Magazine|volume=138|issue=2|date=February 1995|pages=32–34, 58|url=https://archive.org/details/americanlegionvo1382amer?q=novichok|publisher=American Legion}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Novichok agents}} * {{Cite web |last=Fedorov |first=Lev |date=27 July 1994 |title=Chemical Weapons in Russia: History, Ecology, Politics |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/cbw/jptac008_l94001.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001208222900/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/cbw/jptac008_l94001.htm |archive-date=8 December 2000 |publisher=Federation of American Scientists}} * [https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/cw.htm Russian chemical weapons] at GlobalSecurity.org

{{Chemical warfare}} {{Acetylcholine metabolism and transport modulators}} {{Neurotoxins}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Novichok agents Category:Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Category:Organophosphate nerve agents Category:Soviet chemical weapons program Category:Soviet inventions