Experten befürchten, dass Putin Chemiewaffen herstellt, die „schlimmer als Nowitschok“ sind
Putin creating chemical weapons ‘worse than Novichok’, experts fear
Experten befürchten, dass Putin Chemiewaffen herstellt, die „schlimmer als Nowitschok“ sind
Putin creating chemical weapons ‘worse than Novichok’, experts fear
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Russia may be developing new nerve agents which could be even more deadly than Novichok and would help avoid detection of their use in any future attacks, experts fear.
Senior defence figures are also concerned that [Russia’s alleged illegal use of toxic gas in Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-ramps-up-chemical-attacks-wwi-choking-agent-putin-blitzes-kyiv-3787317?srsltid=AfmBOooO9DD2hAEuOlVQbztsSSRb9FbGPWUTSEDDsZLngxogTbWY2ZIe&ico=in-line_link) could escalate into full-blown chemical war, using substances that could kill thousands.
Moscow claims it destroyed its last stockpile of chemical weapons in 2017 and has previously denied any suggestion of continued work on them.
Yet a scientist who helped create Novichok nerve agents in the 1980s told *The i Paper* that he believes Moscow might be creating new poisons.
Dr Vil Mirzayanov, who worked on the covert Soviet programme but later became a whistleblower, suspects Russia is “still developing” nerve agents.
Mirzayanov believes a new variety may have been used to kill the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison last year “because they don’t want any scandals… connected to this violation”.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, claimed in September that two labs had identified a substance used to murder him.
She alleged that details of this have been kept secret by Western governments for political and legal reasons.
The Kremlin says that Navalny died of natural causes, and US intelligence analysts have reportedly concluded that Putin did not order his murder while in jail.
However, Mirzayanov speculated that a carbamate compound could have been used as a poison to kill Navalny.
Soviet and American scientists experimented with carbamates, some of which are used as pesticides, during the Cold War.
[Hamish de Bretton-Gordon](https://inews.co.uk/author/hamish-de-bretton-gordon?srsltid=AfmBOopcBYvfVmv_p1SqnBrymvJ0SUMo5gkN7anbH1G7sFQPn471W23l&ico=in-line_link), the British Army’s former head of defences against chemical attacks, agrees with Mirzayanov that Moscow is probably still developing toxic substances.
“It seems pretty clear, from the people I talk to and others, that the Russians still have an extant chemical weapons programme,” he said.