The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | Always a Spy | 3

The Spy Who

Wondery

History

4.6 • 669 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a top-secret Russian laboratory, a terrifying chemical weapon called Novichok is about to be hauled out of storage, and will soon reach the streets of British city Salisbury.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge full seasons of the Spy Who early and add free on Apple Podcasts or the Wondry app.
0:14.3	The Soviet Union, May 1987, 23 years before Sergei Scripolt moved to the Soviet Union, May 1987, 23 years before Sergei Scripult moves to Salisbury.
0:25.6	In a secret state laboratory in Moscow, Andrei Zelensiakov stands in front of a glass enclosure.
0:33.6	Inside, a rabbit twitches its nose and its whiskers tremble.
0:38.3	Zelensiakov is a middle-aged Russian scientist with a thick beard.
0:43.3	Like his father before him, he works for the USSR's chemical weapons program.
0:48.3	His current assignment is codenamed foliant.
0:52.3	And it's his job to assess the effects of a new toxin named Novichok 5.
0:59.0	Novichok 5 is the deadliest chemical weapon ever developed.
1:05.0	It's a nerve agent that can evade NATO detection equipment, penetrate most protective suits,
1:12.2	and has the shelf life of around 50 years.
1:16.7	Zeleshnikov presses a button on a console,
1:19.2	and the rabbit enclosure slowly fills with mist.
1:23.6	Zalershnikov places his hand on the console
1:25.7	and leans forward to observe the rabbit more closely.
1:29.3	The creature's body begins to twitch with involuntary tremors.
1:33.3	Mucous begins to dribble from its nose and the pupils of its eyes constrict to tiny pinpricks.
1:40.3	The scientist is so engrossed in the spectacle that he doesn't notice the laboratories
1:45.5	extractor fan fall silent. Behind the glass, the effects of the Novichok poisoning intensify.
1:53.9	The rabbit thrashes about uncontrollably, before it completely loses coordination and collapses
1:59.6	onto the straw in a state of paralysis.
2:03.6	Zelesnikov notices his station is now eerily quiet.
	...

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