Russian scientist who helped create Novichok dies aged 80 after accusing Moscow of a 'state-level hit' on Salisbury
Vladimir Uglev, the Soviet chemist who said the Salisbury attack could have involved "a batch made by my own hands," had previously spoken out about Novichok being used to poison Alexei Navalny in 2020.Yulia Skripal, who was treated in hospital for more than a month after exposure to Novichok in Salisbury — an attack Vladimir Uglev said was a Kremlin "state-level hit" that may have used a batch synthesised by his own hands.
Vladimir Uglev, 80, died on October 26 in Anapa, Russia, of unknown causes — and his death was withheld for over a week before independent outlet The Insider disclosed it. Uglev worked in Soviet labs between 1975 and 1990 developing Novichok, the agent later used by Putin's spies against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, and against Alexei Navalny in 2020.
Uglev said of the Salisbury attack: 'It is quite possible that it was a batch made by my own hands.'
After speaking out, Uglev was knocked down by a car near his home and later smeared with anonymous paedophile leaflets.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, a British mother of three, died after being exposed to Novichok that had been thrown away in a perfume bottle in the aftermath of the Salisbury poisoning.
