Report that Novichok sample came from Germany in 1990s “plausible" – Top ex-German spy (VIDEO)
A German report claiming that the country’s BND spy agency secured a sample of the nerve agent Novichok from a Russian scientist in the 1990s “sounds plausible,” according to ex-German intelligence officer, Rainer Rupp.
Rupp told RT that witnesses have been prepared to talk about the work carried out by the Germans, and that the government had “tried to acquire chemical weapons” for the military in the past.
“This research group can present some witnesses who are prepared to talk about it, who participated in this operation, so it sounds plausible to me and all the more because the best German government had already previously tried to acquire chemical weapons for the Bundeswehr [armed forces],” he said.
Rupp added: “And – as the ingredients for this horrific stuff can be bought readily almost anywhere, if you have the formula – all you need is a highly secure laboratory, so basically it could be done anywhere.”
The UK government line has been that only the Russian state could have been in possession of a nerve agent like Novichok. The details of the report may now help to explain how British authorities were able to determine that the nerve agent used to attack the Skripals was indeed Novichok.
A joint report was carried out by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, weekly publication Die Zeit, and broadcasters NDR and WDR, says Reuters.
READ MORE: Sergei Skripal discharged from hospital after being poisoned by ‘deadly’ agent
The sample was analyzed in Sweden, and the chemical formula was given to the German government and military, accorded to sources cited by the report. It is thought that Western countries used the information to enable them to develop countermeasures.
It comes as Sergei Skripal, the former Russian double agent, was today discharged from hospital following the nerve agent attack in Salisbury that left him and his daughter Yulia in a critical condition.
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