DISINFO: No public evidence of the use of Novichok in Salisbury
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: RT English (archived)*
  • Date of publication: March 04, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): English
  • Reported in: Issue 139
  • Countries / regions discussed: UK, Russia
Tags:
novichok Sergei Skripal Conspiracy theory

DISINFO: No public evidence of the use of Novichok in Salisbury

SUMMARY

A year after the Salisbury poisoning, still no evidence of the use of Novichok was presented to the public.

RESPONSE

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Skripal poisoning, one of many competing and contradictory stories promulgated by pro-Kremlin outlets about this case. See here and here for EUvsDisinfo summary of disinformation narratives surrounding Skripal poisoning.

British police have presented a solid chain of evidence about the Skripal case, including pictures, that connects the two suspects to particular locations in the case. Parts of the material have been released to the public. British police and intelligence investigations have produced sufficient hard evidence to charge two Russian nationals for the attack on the Skripals. More British public documents and statements on the case can be found here.

The report from the OPCW confirmed the UK findings in the Skripal poisoning, specifically the purity of the toxin.

Novichok was developed in Russia in the 1970s and 1980s. It's 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.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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