Czech president: Czechia produced, destroyed small amount of novichok last year - Polidicks

https://www.rferl.org/a/czech-republic-president-zeman-says-produced-destroyed-small-amount-novichok-last-year/29207669.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/czech-president-czechs-made-novichok-citing-spy-agency/2018/05/03/034cf488-4f0e-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fc633a736452 The Czech president says a report by the country’s military spy agency shows that a small amount of the nerve agent type used to poison an ex-Russian spy in Britain was produced in a small amount, tested and destroyed last year in the Czech Republic. Miloš Zeman, however, also says that another report by the Czech counterintelligence agency doesn’t identify the agent as Novichok but as A230. Zeman, who is known for pro-Russian views, said on May 3 that he believed the agent briefly tested in his country last year was the same as Novichok. Basically, our Military intelligency apparently says it was Novichok, but BiS, our national intelligence agency, our Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs say that it wasn't Novichok. And Zeman said that he went through the reports, one of them said that Novichok was produced, tested and destroyed here last November, while the others didn't say it was Novichok, so he made the conclusion that it indeed was Novichok. So, currently, we know at least one thing for sure - some sort of chemical weapon was produced, tested and destroyed in the labs of the Czech defense research institute in Brno last November. We have conflicting reports about what the chemical actually was. Meanwhile, Sputnik makes it look like Czech Republic's been producing this nerve agent in huge quantities for who knows how long. Czech Republic Used to Produce A230 Nerve Agent, President Says

Well, if an intelligence agency got news that someone might be using a little known chemical agents I can see them producing it themselves to tests their testing capabilities and their CBRN defences against it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44002029?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c0j915myy8kt/russian-spy-poisoning&link_location=live-reporting-story Meanwhile, the Russian government is using Zeman's words as a proof of a false flag poisoning. Added another source to the OP.

Why are there so many Russian dissidents in the UK, as opposed to the USA, Switzerland, Germany, or literally any other country in the world? Why do they all end up in the UK? Is it just because there are other Russian dissidents there for support? With this ongoing cold war with Russia, it's looking like the UK is becoming more of a battleground this time than it had been in the past, with assassinations and espionage going on inside the borders of the country, and Russian air force breaching British airspace to test response times. Unless I just don't know much about the UK's history in the cold war.

As long as they properly accounted for it all (destroyed exactly as much as was produced) and handled it safely, this is not a problem. Nations are allowed, under strict scrutiny, to produce limited amounts of chemical weapons for use in testing and defense research. The confusion within Czechia about whether it was Novichok or not may be because Novichok isn't a single chemical, but an entire family of chemical warfare agents, and there are also "Novichok-like" chemicals that are related but weren't developed by the Soviet Union.

Isn't the Czech president outwardly pro-Russia? This just seems like more of Putin's bullshit to muddy waters that were otherwise completely clear.

He is, but he claims he isn't. He claims to always pick the "best option for our country", which a lot of the time is suspiciously something very close to what the Russian government wants.

Hey, gotta make sure the Russians don't cut off the gas.

Bumpy-Update-Bump: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-seizes-on-czech-president-s-statement-about-novichok/29207669.html Czech parliamentary committee says no Novichok produced | Radio .. PM: Novichok nerve agent was never produced or developed in the .. PM: Czechs produced, developed, stored no Novichok | Prague Mon..