London: The head of the British military facility analizing the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter said Tuesday it has “not identified the precise source” of the substance.
Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defense laboratory, told Britain’s Sky News that analysts had identified it as military-grade Novichok, but they had not proved it was made in Russia.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions,” he said.
“It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured.”
Aitkenhead added that “extremely sophisticated methods” were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was “something only in the capabilities of a state actor.”
Sergei Skripal and his daughter have been in hospital since March 4 after the poisoning in Britain that London and its major Western allies have blamed on Russia.
The first use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II has chilled Moscow’s relations with the West, as both sides have expelled scores of diplomats.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday suggesting that the British government may be behind the poisoning to distract attention from problems around Brexit.
Aitkenhead would not comment on whether Porton Down had developed or keeps stocks of Novichok, but he dismissed claims the agent used to poison the Skripals had come from the site.
“There is no way anything like that could have come from us or left the four walls of our facility,” he said.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world’s chemical watchdog, will meet Wednesday to discuss Britain’s allegations that Russia was responsible for the poisoning, according to documents released on Tuesday.
It said Russia asked the OPCW, which has received samples of the Novichok used that it has been analizing, for the meeting.
The confidential gathering will start at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at its headquarters in The Hague.
UK lab ‘hasn’t identified’ source of nerve agent used on spy
UK lab ‘hasn’t identified’ source of nerve agent used on spy
- UK Lab: We identified the type of the nerve agent, not its source
Hundreds rally in Paris to support Ukraine after four years of war
- Demonstrators chanted: “We support Ukraine against Putin, who is killing it“
- “Frozen Russian assets must be confiscated, they belong to Ukraine“
PARIS: Around one thousand took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to show their “massive support” for Ukraine, just days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Demonstrators marching through the French capital chanted: “We support Ukraine against Putin, who is killing it,” and “Frozen Russian assets must be confiscated, they belong to Ukraine.”
“In public opinion, there is massive support for Ukraine that has not wavered since the first day of the full-scale invasion” by the Russian army on February 24, 2022, European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann, told AFP.
“On the other hand, in the French political class, sounds of giving up are starting to emerge. On both the far left and the far right, voices of capitulation are getting louder and louder,” he added.
In the crowd, Irina Kryvosheia, a Ukrainian who arrived in France several years ago, “thanked with all her heart the people present.”
She said they reminded “everyone that what has been happening for four years is not normal, it is not right.”
Kryvosheia said she remains in daily contact with her parents in Kyiv, who told her how they were deprived “for several days” of heating, electricity and running water following intense bombardments by the Russian army.
Francois Grunewald, head of “Comite d’Aide Medicale Ukraine,” had just returned from a one-month mission in the country, where the humanitarian organization has delivered around forty generators since the beginning of the year.
Russia’s full-scale invasion sent shockwaves around the world and triggered the bloodiest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II.
The war has seen tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of military personnel killed on both sides. Millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, where vast areas have been devastated by fighting.
Russia occupies nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory and its heavy attacks on the country’s energy sites have sparked a major energy crisis.
