Theressa May has publicly pointed the figure of blame at Russia for launching a chemical attack on British soil.
In a statement in the House of Commons, the PM said that it was "highly likely" Russia was behind the assassination attempt of Sergei Skripal , 66, and his daughter Yulia, using the deadliest nerve agent ever created - Novichok.
Both remain seriously ill after the shocking attempted assassination in Salisbury, Wilts., last Sunday, which exposed hundreds of people to the potentially fatal chemical.
It is believed to be the first time a chemical weapon has been used on the streets of Britain.
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| Former double agent Sergei Skripal is fighting for his life after being poisoned |
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| Yulia Skripal is fighting for her life after being poisoned in Salisbury in Wiltshire last Sunday (Image: AFP) |
What is Novihok?This group of nerve agents was developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s and is said to be up to ten times stronger than VX.
Novichoks - meaning 'newcomer' in Russian - were designed as "binary weapons", meaning they are comprised of two relatively harmless ingredients that only become deadly when mixed together.
This makes them easier to transport, handle and gives them a much longer shelf life than other nerve agents.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former head of Britain’s Chemical, Biological Radiation and Nuclear regiment told the Express: "It is designed to be undetectable for any standard chemical security testing.
"Skripal would only have needed to touch it, as he opened a parcel, for it to be absorbed into his bloodstream."
Why use Novihok and not another nerve agent?
It was designed to be undetectable and bend international rules on the control of chemical weapons
These agents were designed to achieve four objectives:
To be undetectable using standard NATO chemical detection equipment;
To defeat NATO chemical protective gear;
To be safer to handle;
To circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention list of controlled precursors, classes of chemical and physical form.
Another advantage is how it can be used it can be dispersed as an ultra-fine powder instead of a gas/vapour.
What does it do and how is it treated?
Nerve agents work by interfering with the central nervous system, causing the body to become over stimulated.
But unless you know which ingredients were used it is almost impossible to guess at the symptoms or design an effective treatment.
All Novichok agents are more toxic than VX. Some may be up to 10 times more.
But because of the uncertain ingredients they could render existing antidotes ineffective.
It is believed that the agent attacks muscles especially those around the heart and lungs, leading to respitory and cardiac arrest, and then death.
Effects can take 30 second to two minutes to become apparent/
Is this the first time it has been used as a weapon?
If Novichok was used on the street in Salisbury then it would mark the first recorded time it has been used as a weapon.
But it has long been controversial in the international community.
Novichok became famous in the 90s, when a Soviet scientist called Vil Mirzayanov revealed that the country had secretly developed the powerful nerve gas – which was far more potent than anything in the US.
Though the Soviet Union had been developing it for some time, it didn't become known for as much as a decade after it was actually available, because it had been kept entirely secret.
It wasn't clear how much of it the Soviet Union actually developed, though Mr Mirzayanov said there was enough chemical weapons "to kill tens of millions".
Novichok was developed in much smaller amounts, he said, meaning there might only be enough to kill several hundreds of thousands of people.
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