Russian spy: Traces of nerve agent 'found at Zizzi' Restaurant

[sunonmars]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43360420

Traces of the nerve agent used against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, have been found at the restaurant where they ate on Sunday afternoon, the BBC understands.

The substance was found in one part of Zizzi in Salisbury during a continuing forensic examination.

The pair were found two hours after finishing their meal collapsed on a park bench. Both are critically ill.

No-one who was in the restaurant at the same time is thought to be in danger.

There is also no suggestion that anyone dining at the time had anything to do with the nerve agent.

The restaurant is currently surrounded by a large screen while an investigation continues inside.

Zizzi is one of five sites in the small Wiltshire city of Salisbury at the heart of the operation.

Also being investigated are the bench where the couple were found, Mr Skripal's home, the Mill pub - visited by Skripals - and the cemetery where Mr Skripal's wife and son are buried.

[Leghorn21]

1. Thank you for this update, sun - eom

[ProudLib72]

2. I want to know about the persistence of the nerve agent

Obviously it must be somewhat persistent since they have found traces of it days later. That makes me nervous.

[FarCenter]

4. Some agents are low volatility, so they don't evaporate. Most will hydrolyze by H2O, but rates vary.

Probably a novichok agent?

[ProudLib72]

7. Looked that up

Police have not confirmed what agent was used, but a source has told the BBC it was likely to be rarer than sarin or VX nerve agents - two of the best known.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43328976

The first description of these agents was provided by Mirzayanov.[9] Dispersed in an ultra-fine powder instead of a gas or a vapor, they have unique qualities. A binary agent was then created that would mimic the same properties but would either be manufactured using materials legal under the CWT[11] or be undetectable by treaty regime inspections.[16] The most potent compounds from this family, novichok-5 and novichok-7, are supposedly around five to eight times more potent than VX.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

So what we know is that it was not a common agent and that, if it was a novichok agent, that stuff is seriously nasty.

[FarCenter]

8. But you may not need a chemical weapons lab to make binary weapons

Consider the case of Kim's brother. Two women smeared his face. The women were not harmed, although maybe the second was a little.

So the two component of a binary nerve agent are relatively harmless.

If you know the "recipes" for the components, each component can be synthesized in a conventional chemistry laboratory. No extraordinary technical precautions against highly toxic chemicals are needed.

[ProudLib72]

9. It says that binary agents "preserve shelf life"

Which gets back to my original question about persistence. Evidently, these agents don't last very long. It must also have a lot to do with the form of the agent and method of dispersal. The fact that 21 other people were affected suggests it might have been aerosol, which I would think would break down much more quickly than if it were applied topically.

[FarCenter]

10. You would want two chemically stable, non-volatile components that generate a gas when mixed

In the case of Kim's brother, I think that skin absorption of a liquid agent was the case, which made the actual attack complicated and difficult to carry off using the two women patsies.

In this case, a gas is more likely. Perhaps in a package which combined the agents when opened?

[SonofDonald]

3. If they were poisoned at the restaurant

Then somebody was there at the time their meal was cooked who poisoned them alone.

It should be easy to find out who did it or allowed it to be done, somebody had to be following them or knew what their plans were ahead of time.

I would think they already have leads or a suspect.

[moondust]

5. I believe Litvinenko

Last edited Sat Mar 10, 2018, 11:07 PM - Edit history (1)

got his deadly dose of polonium in a restaurant/cafe.

How did he die?

On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko met ex-KGB agents Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun for tea at the Millennium Hotel in central London. All three were caught on CCTV as they arrived for the meeting. Lugovoy and Kovtun are then believed to have slipped polonium-210 into Litvinenko's tea and encouraged him to drink it, says The Daily Telegraph.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/62377/what-happened-to-alexander-litvinenko

[duforsure]

6. This is who Trump supports

And ought to be frightening to every American now.