DISINFO: UK's Porton Down laboratory disproved that Novichok was made in Russia
SUMMARY
The US introduced new sanctions against Russia in relation to the Skripals’ poisoning. London was quick to declare Russia’s responsibility for the accident. The Russian authorities denied their involvement, offered investigative assistance to the UK and demanded consular access to Skripal’s daughter. All official Russian requests were ignored by the UK. The UK’s laboratory in Porton Down disproved that the poisonous substance was produced in Russia.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Skripal poisoning in the UK, attempting to divert attention from Russia's proven responsibility for the attack. By March 2018, EUvsDisinfo had already collected 20 different narratives about the Skripal case. It had catalogued over 100 disinformation messages around the Salisbury attack. The disinformation messages implying a UK government conspiracy behind the Skripal case are an often-used method of applying a pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Salisbury poisoning. The British Police have presented a solid chain of evidence on the Skripal case, with pictures, connecting the suspects to the locations in the case. Parts of the material have been released to the public. British scientists at the Porton Down defence research laboratory were indeed unable to verify the precise source of the Novichok. However, they did not disprove the Russian source of it as claimed. In 2018, Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), stated the following: "We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify it was a military-grade nerve agent. We have not verified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific information to the government, who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to.” See EUvsDisinfo's analysis on how pro-Kremlin media covered one year since the Salisbury attack and a variety of conspiracy theories behind the Skripals' poisoning. See earlier conspiracy theories focused on the Porton Down laboratory claiming that Porton Down might have manufactured Novichok and that Porton Down was responsible for the Amesbury poisoning.