Russian scientist who invented Novichok nerve agent dies after accusing Moscow of 'state-level' hit in Britain

Published: 03:23 EDT, 4 November 2026 | Updated: 03:32 EDT, 4 November 2026 A Russian scientist who invented the deadly Novichok nerve agent used in the notorious Salisbury poisonings has died.Vladimir Uglev had accused the Putin regime of using the deadly chemical weapon in a 'state-level hit' on Britain in 2018. Mr Uglev - who lived in Russia - died on October 26 aged 80. But his death was disclosed today - more than a week later - by the independent Russian investigative outlet The Insider.The cause is unknown, as is the reason for the delay in announcing his death.Mr Uglev was in a team of Soviet scientists who developed Novichok - known as A-234 - later used by Putin spies in the attempted assassination of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, then 66, and his daughter Yulia, then 33, in Salisbury in March 2018.Both survived, but British mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after unwittingly coming into contact with Novichok discarded in a perfume bottle.He later said of the Salisbury poisoning: 'I have no doubt that it was 'A-234.'Judging by the high purity of the sample, it is quite possible that it was a batch made by my own hands.' Russian scientist Vladimir Uglev developed the Novichok nerve agent used in the notorious Salisbury poisonings Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, was pictured alongside his daughter Yulia at his home in Salisbury in 2018He knew Novichok 'like a mother knows her child', he said.Speaking on the Salisbury poisonings, Mr Uglev said: 'This was a state-level hit…'You really couldn't think of a more serious act of terrorism – and one committed against a permanent member of the UN.'He later faced persecution for daring to criticise the Russian authorities.Days after speaking out, the scientist was knocked down by a car on a pedestrian crossing near his home in the Black Sea resort of Anapa.He suffered head and arm injuries after being thrown onto the vehicle's bonnet and striking its windscreen.Despite fears that he might have been targeted, Mr Uglev said he believed the collision was accidental.But later he was smeared with false paedophile allegations with anonymous posters appearing in Anapa. A Soviet army serviceman in protective suit handles toxic substances during a visit by Western diplomats and journalists to a chemical weapons research facility in Shikhany, Saratov region, in 1987Police searched his home, examined his electronic devices and took his fingerprints, but found no evidence.They refused to take action against the accusers as he blamed Putin's secret services.Mr Uglev acknowledged the danger of publicly challenging the Russian authorities.'Everyone is afraid, but you have to control your fear,' he said.He also spoke out over the 2020 Novichok poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who survived the attack but was later 'murdered' in a Russian Arctic penal colony in February 2024.He assisted independent investigators examining the activities of Russian intelligence services and their use of chemical weapons.Investigative journalist Christo Grozev said: 'While responsible for the development of the powerful toxin, in later years he was an outspoken critic of its use to target civilians.'Mr Uglev contradicted Kremlin denials in both the Skripal and Navalny cases, he said.Born in Kirovsk in September 1946, Mr Uglev trained as a chemist in Moscow before working from 1975 to 1990 at a secretive Soviet chemical weapons research establishment in Saratov region.He developed some of the earliest Novichok agents.The December 2025 British public inquiry into the Salisbury assassination operation concluded it was authorised by Putin himself.READ MORE: Family of Salisbury Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess condemn inquiry's 'unanswered questions' as it finds Vladimir Putin ordered attack on Sergei Skripal 'to show Russian power'