Agents targeted novichok lab

TWO Russian agents were arrested for trying to spy on a Swiss chemical weapons lab where the novichok used in the March attack was sent for testing.

The pair, believed to work for the GRU, were detained in Holland in the spring and later expelled back to Russia, according to reports in the Netherlands.

It is believed they were targeting the Spiez Laboratory in Bern, Switzerland, where samples from the attack on the Skripals, and the contamination of Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, were sent for testing by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The arrests, kept secret at the time, followed a joint operation between various intelligence services in Europe.

The pair allegedly had equipment to access the lab’s computer network.