Experts confirm Skripal nerve gas is Russian

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) yesterday confirmed the thesis of the British government regarding the Russian origin of the nerve gas which poisoned the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English town of Salisbury. The international organisation for the control of chemical weapons does not indicate either the name nor the composition of the neurotoxin, but agrees with the UK hypothesis in terms of its origin. “The results of the analyses performed by laboratories designated by the OPCW (...) confirm the findings of the United Kingdom regarding the identity of the toxic chemical agent used in Salisbury,” said the organisation based in Hague which noted the “purity” of the substance used.

The British prime minister Theresa May said that the gas belonged to the Novichok strain; chemical weapons produced by the Russian military which are produced only in laboratories in that country, and directly accused Russia of being behind the attack. Moscow denies the accusation.

The UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement , that “four independent and internationally renowned laboratories” had come to the same conclusion, identifying the gas as the “nerve agent known as military-Novichok.”