DISINFO: NATO scientists synthesized Novichok in a lab in Brno, Czech Republic
SUMMARY
Close to the Czech city of Brno, there is a lab where NATO scientists synthesised Novichok.
RESPONSE
No evidence given. Consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Skripal poisoning and the nerve agent that was used for it. For background: Novichok is known to be more powerful than VX and was developed in Russia in the 1970s and 1980s. It is so unusual that very few scientists outside of Russia have any real experience in dealing with it and no country outside of Russia is known to have developed the substance. See reports by CNN, BBC, the Guardian. In a statement, the EU expressed shock at the offensive use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, for the first time on European soil in over 70 years.