Russian scientist who invented nerve agent that allegedly poisoned spy in UK is hit by car

Jimmy Nsubuga
Metro
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 12:33 UTC

© east2west news

Vladimir Uglev was hit by a car near his home

Vladimir Uglev, 71, was struck at a pedestrian crossing near his home, which is close to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.

He suffered injuries to his head, arms and legs, after apparently jumping on to the bumper and crashing through the windscreen when trying to avoid getting under the wheels of the vehicle.

Uglev was strong enough to talk following the crash after undergoing an MRI for his head injuries.

'I noticed that the car was going fast, not slowing down ahead of the crossing,' he said.

'I started to run and nearly reached the end of the crossing, when the car "got" me.'

© CEN

Vladimir Uglev is recovering at home

The driver of the vehicle was an unidentified 70-year-old man who lived locally, according to The Bell news.

He was said to have stopped at the scene after the incident and a police investigation is currently underway to determine what caused the crash.

Uglev, who first synthesised Novichok in 1975 when he was working for the USSR, said he did not believe he was targeted deliberately.

The substance is at the centre of an international row between Russia and Western allies.

Uglev has been widely quoted since the British claim it was used in a chemical weapon attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33.

© Rex

Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were poisoned in the UK

The former double agent remains in hospital but his daughter has been released and is recovering at an unknown location.

Some of Uglev's comments regarding Novichok following the attack may have upset Russian officials.

He raised concerns about the security of Russian nerve agent stocks after the collapse of the USSR and said he could not exclude some lab workers might have been tempted to sell toxic substances.

He added: 'The British, just like the Germans, are excellent chemists who can with one hint do what in Moscow is classified as top secret.'

Comment: Uglev was one of those claiming that A-234 was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Naturally, the Russian embassy in the UK was skeptical. From a recent press release:

Q: Can you comment on the recent statements by Mr Vladimir Uglev claiming to be a "Novichok" inventor and saying he is sure that A-234 was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal?

A: Yesterday we learned from the BBC that the self-proclaimed inventor of the so-called "Novichok" Mr Vladimir Uglev was sure that the Skripals had been poisoned with A-234. He comes to this conclusion "from all the spectrum data [he] was sent recently".

This is quite an extraordinary statement. It essentially means that a private citizen has been provided with the information that the Russian Side has not been able to obtain from the British authorities for weeks.

By the way, earlier, statements based on access to "intelligence data" were made by Mr Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former commanding officer of the UK's chemical regiment.

Of course, these allegations can not be verified. But if we are to believe them, it looks like the British authorities share highly confidential data with private individuals. This is another gross violation of the OPCW rules. We have asked the FCO to confirm or deny this, and to provide us access to the files that these gentlemen refer to.

See also: Keep Calm & Blame Russia: RT Documentary on Inconvenient Facts in Skripal Saga