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Salisbury attack: Chemical weapons watchdog confirms UK findings on nerve agent

12 April 2018 13:35 (UTC +04:00)

The OPCW has confirmed Britain's findings that a nerve agent used in an attack on a former spy and his daughter in England last month came from Russia. Tests were conducted by four independent laboratories, according to Deutsche Welle.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a statement Thursday, confirming the poison used in the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter originated in Russia.

Blood samples "confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical," according to a summary of the Hague-based group's report released in London.

It added that "the toxic chemical was of high purity."

The OPCW did not name the chemical, nor did it assign blame for the March 4 attack on Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Experts from the chemical watchdog carried out their independent investigation at the request of the British government, which said that the pair had been poisoned by the Soviet-era, military-grade nerve agent, Novichok.

The OPCW collected its own samples from the site of the attack and sent them to four laboratories for testing.

The results will be discussed at an emergency OPCW session next Wednesday.