Russian Novichok nerve agent linked to attack on ex-spy
The top secret ‘newcomer’ chemical weapons were developed in the 1970s to evade detection by Nato soldiers
The nerve agent used in an attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal was part of the Novichok family, the British government has revealed. This group of nerve agents was developed in Russia as part of a secret chemical weapons programme codenamed ‘Foliant’ in the 1970s and 80s.
Novichok – ‘newcomer’ in Russian – agents have never been used in warfare and publicly available information about them is limited. They were designed to evade detection by Nato’s standard chemical detectors and to defeat protective clothing, as well as being safer to handle. They are binary agents – meaning they are formed by mixing two relatively benign precursor chemicals just before use, which makes them safer to transport, store and handle.