The previous Novichok threads have (understandably) been locked so I'll drop this in here:
'Third man' named in Skripal poisoning
The 'third man' has been identified by Bellingcat. Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev of the GRU is reported to have arrived in the UK at the same time as the sightseeing poisoners.
He is also reported as having previously travelled to Bulgaria, at which point a Bulgarian arms dealer needed hospital treatment following poisoning. Funny that, isn't it?
Moscow are playing the bewildered innocent card -
"We don't know how far this corresponds with reality, whether it's real at all.
"We don't know what the report's authors based their work on - how competent they are - who they are - and whether this is true at all."
Well you have to give Russia marks for effort even if the content stinks. Presumably their response will firm up to begin blaming NATO, Porton Down and Brexit once the spontaneous reaction notes have been typed and distributed. Expect the usual St. Petersburg suspects to disappear and them come back with a unified response in a day or so.