novichok

plural novichoks · alternative Novichok

1. countableuncountableAny of a group of deadly organophosphate nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to evade restrictions on chemical weapons.

   The poisoning also turned Novichok into something of a Russian calling card.

   2020 September 2, “Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says”, in The New York Times

   5 more examples

   Those still fixated on the problem and not the solution will argue that the United States should take no action on the CWC until Russia “comes clean” about the novichok program under the Memorandum of Understanding.

   1995, Amy E. Smithson, Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Russia: Problems and Prospects, page 60

   Novichoks are allegedly the deadliest NAs ever produced and are potentially five to eight times more potent than VX.

   2013, Mahdi Balali-Mood, Mohammad Abdollahi, editors, Basic and Clinical Toxicology of Organophosphorus Compounds, page 14

   Theresa May has identified the nerve agent used in the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury as a novichok.

   2018 March 13, Ian Sample, “Novichok nerve agents – what are they?”, in The Guardian

   In an earlier interview with the Guardian, a Kremlin insider said that “in half a year or a year, novichok will catch up with Prigozhin,” a reference to the 2020 poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

   2023 August 23, Pjotr Sauer, “Prigozhin’s death would leave lasting mark on Russian army and elite”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   A hospital consultant who treated Sergei and Yulia Skripal after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok was “gobsmacked” when Yulia woke and began trying to get out of bed four days after the attack.

   2024 October 31, Steven Morris, “Consultant who treated Yulia Skripal ‘gobsmacked’ when she woke up, inquiry hears”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: foliant