50-100 Grams of A234 Chemical Would Have Killed Whole of Salisbury - Scientist

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The use of 50-100 grams of A234 nerve agent in UK’s Salisbury would have killed the city, which calls into question the use of this substance against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, Leonid Rink, one of the developers of a chemical weapons program, dubbed Novichok in the West, told Sputnik.

“The whole of Salisbury would have died from this amount. This is an insane amount, this is a combat amount,” Rink said.

The New York Times newspaper reported earlier in the day, citing Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, that 50 or 100 grams of the substance were used in Salisbury.

READ MORE: Scotland Yard Yet to Find Suspects in Salisbury Case — National Security Adviser

Following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury and accusations against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that neither Russia nor the Soviet Union carried out work to develop chemical weapons of such kind, named Novichok.

On March 4, former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench near a shopping mall in the UK town of Salisbury. UK authorities have blamed Russia for attempting to assassinate the Skripals with the A234 nerve agent.

Russia has denied having any role in the poisoning, pointing to the lack of evidence provided by London to substantiate its accusations. Moscow has also released a list of questions addressed to the UK authorities on the case.

The UK authorities began cleanup work at nine locations in the city to decontaminate potentially affected sites last month. Theresa May said in late April that Salisbury was safe for residents, though according to reports, the process should have taken months to complete.