How we can PROVE which Russian lab made poison, by Theresa’s security chief
BRITAIN last night pointed the finger directly at Moscow over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
In a surprise move, the Prime Minister’s national security adviser Mark Sedwill released a bombshell dossier that identified a Kremlin laboratory as the source of the nerve agent used in Salisbury.
The dossier – in a letter to Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg – revealed how Britain had identified a Kremlin laboratory in south-west Russia where the Novichok agents were made.
It said Russia had been snooping on the emails of Sergei Skripal’s daughter Yulia for five years and that it had been testing the effectiveness of Novichok smeared on door handles. The Skripals are thought to have come into contact with the nerve agent on their front door.
In his letter, Mr Sedwill also said there was evidence showing that Vladimir Putin himself was closely involved in an undeclared chemical weapons programme in the mid-2000s. The letter was also sent to the EU.
And at Scotland Yard yesterday, Commissioner Cressida Dick said she hoped those responsible for the Salisbury attack could yet be put on trial.
The dossier was published on a day when Britain, the US and France were making final preparations for a strike on Syria’s Russianbacked dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Its release was followed by a press conference from the Russian ambassador – in which he denied any Russian responsibility. The embassy then published an 8,000word report into the row, reiterating that the Kremlin had ‘nothing to do’ with the attack.
But Mr Sedwill said he believed Nato would remain ‘seized of the need to confront the increasingly aggressive pattern of Russia behaviour’. He said Russia had been spying on ex-spy Mr Skripal and Yulia for at least five years – and that the Kremlin had trained special units in how to administer the poison.
Cyber specialists from the GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, hacked Miss Skripal’s emails as far back as 2013, he said.
The letter also confirmed the Mail’s revelations last week that Russia’s chemical programme included testing the weapons on door handles.
Mr Skripal was a former GRU officer, who was convicted of espionage in 2004. The letter read: ‘It is highly likely that the Russian intelligence services view at least some of its defectors as legitimate targets for assassination.
‘We have information indicating Russian intelligence service interest in the Skripals, dating back at least as far as 2013, when email accounts belonging to Yulia Skripal were targeted by GRU cyber specialists.’
Mr Sedwill said a combination of credible open- source reporting and intelligence showed that in the 1980s the Soviet Union developed a new class of ‘fourth generation’ nerve agents.
These were known as Novichoks and were developed under an operation under the codename FOLIANT. The key institute
‘Aggressive behaviour’
responsible for this work was a branch of the State Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology at Shikhany defence laboratory, near Volgograd in south-west Russia. ‘It is highly likely that Novichoks were developed to prevent detection by the West and to circumvent international chemical weapons controls,’ Mr Sedwill said.
He repeated previous statements that the Russian state has previously produced Novichoks and would still be capable of doing so.
The letter revealed that Russia’s chemical weapons programme continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Britain believes it is ‘likely’ that when Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993, some Novichoks had passed acceptance testing.
This allowed their use by the Russian military, the letter said.
Mr Sedwill said Russia further developed some Novichoks after ratifying the convention, and failed to report the activity.
In the mid- 2000s, Putin was closely involved in the chemical weapons programme, he added. ‘It is highly unlikely that any former Soviet republic (other than Russia) pursued an offensive chemical weapons programme after independence. It is unlikely that Novichoks could be made and deployed by non- state actors (e.g. a criminal or terrorist group), especially at the level of purity confirmed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.’
Mr Sedwill’s letter came after Russia was accused of trying to muddy the waters by conducting a wide-
scale disinformation campaign in the weeks after the attack. Earlier this week Miss skripal, 33, snubbed the Kremlin and turned down Russian offers of help. Refuting claims by the Russian embassy in London that she had been kidnapped by Britain, she said she was safe and could speak freely.
The Russian citizen was in intensive care for more than a month after she and her father, sergei, were poisoned in salisbury, Wiltshire, on March 4.
Mr skripal, 66, a former Russian spy who has British citizenship, is still being treated at salisbury District Hospital.
Mr sedwill said he wanted to share further intelligence on Russia’s activities, saying: ‘Only Russia has the technical means, operational experience and the motive.’ at scotland Yard, Miss Dick refused to be drawn on the latest developments in the investigation.
But she confirmed investigators still believed it was possible a suspect or suspects behind the failed assassination plot could face justice in Britain. ‘it is a very large investigation, we have got 250 detectives currently engaged in that,’ she said. ‘some from London and some from the rest of the country.
‘They are being supported by experts and specialists. it is large, it is complex and it will take time.
‘We are putting a huge effort into this. We will continue to do everything we can to establish facts and identify who is responsible and, if at all possible, bring them to justice.’