According to investigators, when 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess of Amesbury, a town eight miles north of Salisbury (UK), put her perfume on at the end of June, she was “actually applying a Soviet-era nerve agent that had previously sickened a former Russian spy and his daughter.”1
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Developed in secret by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and revealed to the world by former Soviet scientist and whistleblower Vil Mirzayanov, Novichok was created as a means of countering US defenses against chemical weapons. The nerve agent works by slowing the heart and restricting the airways. It is not only one of the world’s rarest nerve agents but very few people outside Russia have experience with it. However, Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement and has deflected blame by put forward multiple theories as to who may have actually carried out the attack. (There has been no suggestion the couple was deliberately targeted.)
Investigators say the small bottle was the source of Sturgess’ fatal dose. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, remains hospitalized.
“It is unclear where Rowley found the bottle, or whether it contained the same batch of nerve agent used on the Skripals. Sturgess initially collapsed at an address in Amesbury on June 30 and was taken to the hospital, police said. Five hours after her collapse an ambulance was called back to the same address for Rowley, who also fell ill and was taken to the hospital.”2
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This week, 10 days after UK authorities launched a murder investigation into Sturgess’ death, the police identified two suspects in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia. (The first poisoning case with Novichok in the UK.)
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The attack on the Skripals led to a spiraling diplomatic dispute with Russia that would see the UK expel 23 Russian diplomats. Something 20 other countries did as well.
We will update you as more information becomes available.
