Russian trolls

[Smitty-48]

Non persistent V series nerve agent is far less dangerous than polonium-210, militarized nerve agent is designed to break down into non lethal components in very short order, polonium-210 takes 138 days to decay to lead by alpha particle emission, so polonium is much more of a wide area persistent contamination threat, to wit, polonimum-210 to V series nerve agent is a downgrade not an upgrade.

[Fife]

It's so off the hook cray that it's fake news. Fake fake fake.

Is it? I certainly hope so.

Well, me as well. But the whole affair is certainly fishy. Stinky; reeks of fakeness.

Cui bono?

[Viktorthepirate]

That being said, and as I said, I'm not going to assume it was Moscow per se, as again, the weapon was apparently a bit of a whiffle ball as far as nerve agents go, which, doesn't seem like that would be coming from the Russian arsenal, which is best in class.

I read something (a couple days ago) that said the agent was only in Russian hands. Was that untrue?

They wont say what the agent is, the British haven't released a report detailing the agent in question, but the target is not dead, and 21 other people were exposed to it, with minimal effects, which; that doesn't sound like VX/VR to me. See; Kim Jong Nam; dead as a door nail inside five minutes; that was VX, whatever this was, it's not presenting with the lethality of a Russian weaponized nerve agent at this juncture.

News keeps saying "Novichok".

Judging by your response it's a generic name that could mean anything.

[Smitty-48]

I read something (a couple days ago) that said the agent was only in Russian hands. Was that untrue?

They wont say what the agent is, the British haven't released a report detailing the agent in question, but the target is not dead, and 21 other people were exposed to it, with minimal effects, which; that doesn't sound like VX/VR to me. See; Kim Jong Nam; dead as a door nail inside five minutes; that was VX, whatever this was, it's not presenting with the lethality of a Russian weaponized nerve agent at this juncture.

News keeps saying "Novichok".

Judging by your response it's a generic name that could mean anything.

Not generic, that is a Soviet designed weapon, A-232 Novichok-5 "Newcomer", codeword; "Foliant"

I have my doubts tho, as Novichok-5 is 8 to 10 times more lethal than V series, and yet the target is not dead?

[Speaker to Animals]

That's the part I find weird. Both of them should be dead. Also probably the cop that first responded, and likely other first responders that touched the scene shortly after the attack.

Nerve agents in general do not fuck around.

[Smitty-48]

A-232 Novichok-5; 1 mg exposure to 200 lb male is 100% lethality in 300 seconds, minimum exposure and mean lethality are practically the same, if A-232, target should have been dead a long time ago.

[Smitty-48]

Moreover, anyone exposed to even less than mean lethality of A-232, would not seem likely to be walking out of the hospital the same day, 1/10th of an mg is still plenty nuff to fuck you up permanently.

21 bystanders exposed to Novichok-5, and they're all walkin' and talkin' right now? Yeah, OK, sure.

[Fife]

[Viktorthepirate]

Moreover, anyone exposed to even less than mean lethality of A-232, would not seem likely to be walking out of the hospital the same day, 1/10th of an mg is still plenty nuff to fuck you up permanently.

21 people exposed to Novichok-5, and they're walkin' and talkin' right now? Yeah, OK, sure.

The media is prone to hysterics so I definitely wouldn't rule out it wasn't actually that agent.

However, people are weird, and who knows?

Also, maybe what they had was old as shit and degraded.

I definitely don't know what I'm talking about though.

[Smitty-48]

Also, maybe what they had was old as shit and degraded.

Not old, but plausibly ill prepared, A-232 is a binary agent, the precursors are non lethal until combined, so could have been a botched preparation. The shelf life of the precursors is very long, but if they're not combined in the right way at the right time, could result in a less lethal agent.

Mind you, the Russians know what they're doing, so that again raises doubts as to a state run operation.