Novichok: What is the nerve agent that has come back into the limelight because of Navalny – 2024-02-20 23:45:19

“My husband was murdered by Novichok,” Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, claimed on Monday in a video posted on social media, vowing to speak out for those she believes were involved.

The nerve agent, one of the deadliest chemical weapons scientists say has been developed, is back in the spotlight again because of Alexei Navalny. It is recalled that in 2020, the German government denounced the detection Novichok on the Russian opposition leader’s blood tests, with the Kremlin making repeated denials.

I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. Continue to fight for our country. And I invite you to stand next to me. pic.twitter.com/aBOIvcYHHk

— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 19, 2024

But what is “Novichok”?

It is a substance that was developed in the “heart” of the “Cold War” in the Soviet Union. Its existence became known in the mid-90s, with scientists stressing that it is a “dangerous” and “evolved” agent, difficult to identify.

“It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless liquid, easy to transport,” he told Guardian Bretton Gordon, former head of Britain’s now-defunct Chemical and Biological Warfare Department.

In the Russian language, it means “newcomer”. Russian scientists claim that some variants of it are 5 to 8 times more lethal than VX. Novichok works by slowing the heart rate, narrowing the airways of the lungs, leading to a slow and painful death if left untreated.

The Navalny case

In August 2020, Alexei Navalny felt unwell on his return flight from Moscow to Tomsk. Before boarding the flight, he reportedly drank tea at a cafe near Tomsk airport.

Germany had then sent a delegation of doctors to Russia to monitor Navalny, who then managed to get him to Berlin to the Charite hospital, where he managed to escape danger after several weeks of hospitalization in a comatose state.

Several analysts had pointed out that the Navalny case was linked to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, where Novichok had been used. The Navalny case and the sudden illness that led to his hospitalization in a coma had also caused reactions from Britain. The then prime minister, Boris Johnson, had demanded an explanation from Russia.

With information from Guardian, NCBI

Read also:

“Bombshell” from Navalny’s wife: “Alexei was poisoned with Novichok” (Video)

In Brussels, Navalny’s wife – Who will she meet with?

Russia: Information that Navalny’s body is in a hospital in Siberia

Navalny – Russia: The “sudden death syndrome” of the authorities, the body that his mother is looking for and the hundreds of arrests