Russian officials shocked by spy poisoning in UK

Former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in the UK.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a Russian official claimed that the UK and the US have Novichok, the nerve agent used to assassinate a former Russian double agent in the UK earlier this month.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Aleksei Chepa said the US and UK had obtained this extremely powerful nerve agent in 1999. The Novichok poison had leaked in a city in Uzbekistan, a country that was once part of the Soviet Union.

That is how the Americans researched this nerve agent, Mr. Chepa said. “The Americans not only have the technology but also the ability to create Novichok. Similarly, the NATO ally Britain can also share this technology.”

Therefore, Mr. Chepa does not rule out the possibility that it was Britain and the United States that poisoned the former Russian spy.

Mr. Chepa's statement was surprising because previously, the UK and the US repeatedly accused Russia of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

An American biochemist, Amy Smithson, also questioned whether Washington had obtained Novichok from the city of Nukus, Uzbekistan.

“I do not exclude this possibility, the possibility of Americans being present at the Soviet chemical facility in the early 1990s.”

Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who visited Nukus, also spoke out in defense of Russia.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that Moscow had completely destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile since last year.

“The US once accused Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction, and now the same people accuse Russia of using Novichok to assassinate a former spy on British soil.”

Mr. Murray said that there is currently no specific evidence showing that Russia is involved in the incident.

Some opposition party members in the UK also warned against prematurely accusing Russia of plotting to assassinate people on British soil.

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a “calm approach” to avoid being dragged into a second Cold War with Russia.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax that Russia was no longer developing the nerve agent Novichok.

“I want to make it clear that the former Soviet Union and Russia no longer develop this type of nerve agent,” Mr. Ryabkov affirmed.

Russia's deputy foreign minister said Moscow had completely destroyed its chemical weapons last year, while accusing the US of failing to do the same.