Novichok agent

Novichok (Russian новичок: "Newcomer") is a series of nerve agents that were developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s and allegedly the most deadly nerve agents ever made. They belong to "third generation chemical weapons" designed as a part of Soviet "Foliant" program.

Design objectives
These agents are designed to achieve three objectives:
 * To be undetectable using standard NATO chemical detection equipment.
 * Defeat NATO chemical protective gear.
 * To be safer to handle. Some of these agents are binary weapons, in which precursors for the nerve agents are mixed in a munition to produce the agent just prior to its use. Because the precursors are generally significantly less hazardous than the agents themselves, this technique makes handling and transporting the munitions a great deal simpler. Additionally, precursors to the agents are usually much easier to stabilize than the agents themselves, so this technique also made it possible to increase the shelf life of the agents. During the 1980s and 1990s, binary versions of several Soviet agents were developed and are designated as "Novichok" agents (after the Russian word for "newcomer").

Disclosure
The extremely potent third-generation chemical weapons have been developed in the Soviet Union and Russia in 1970s to 1990s according to a publication of two chemists, Lev Fedorov and Vil Myrzayanov in Moskovskiye Novosti weekly in 1992 The publication appeared just on the eve of signing the Chemical Weapons Convention by Russia. According to Mirzayanov, Russian Military Chemical Complex (MCC) was using defense conversion money received from the West for development of a chemical warfare facility Mirzoyanov made his disclosure out of environmental concerns. He was a head of a counter-intelligence department and did measurements outside the chemical weapons facilities to make sure that foreign spies can not detect any traces of the production. To his horror, the levels of deadly substances eighty times exceed the maximum safe concentration. (full account by Mirzayanov is available online )

The existence of Novichok agents has been openly admitted by Russian military industrial complex authorities when they brought a treason case against Mirzayanov. According to expert witness testimonies prepared for the KGB by three scientists, novichok and other related chemical agents indeed has been produced and therefore the disclosure by Mirzoyanov represents high treason.

Vil Mirzayanov was arrested in October 22, 1992 and put to Lefortovo prison for allegedly divulging state secrets. He was released later because "not one of the formulas or names of poisonous substances in the Moscow News article was new to the Soviet press, nor were locations ... of testing sites revealed" According to Yevgenia Albats, "the real state secret revealed by Fyodorov and Nirzoyanov was that generals had lied - and were still lying - to both the international community and their fellow citizens". He now lives in the U.S.

Description of Novichok agents
First description of these agents was provided by Mirzayanov. According to the scientists, the Soviet program developed the third-generation nerve agent variant A-234, a simple unitary agent derived from acrylonitrile and a common organophosphate pesticide precursor. Dispersed in an ultra-fine powder as opposed to a gas or a vapor, it has unique qualities. It can bypass much of the chemical protective gear used by most modern armies where it can be absorbed directly through the skin. They then created a binary agent that would mimic the same properties, but be manufactured using materials legal under the CWT or undetectable by treaty regime inspections.

One of the key manufacturing sites was a chemical research institute in what is now Uzbekistan. , and small, experimental batches of the weapons may have been tested on the nearby Ustyurt plateau.

Effects
As a nerve agent, Novichok belongs to organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. These chemical compounds inhibit the enzyme acetycholinesterase, preventing the normal breakdown of neurotransmitter acetylcholine. However, unlike natural neurotransmitters, Novichok inhibits acetylcholinesterase irreversibly (Note that this does not automatically mean permanent damage is caused.)

In fiction
A Novichok binary nerve agent was used against the capital of Chechnya in the movie The Sum of All Fears.