Novichok co-developer Vladimir Uglev dies in Anapa, cause unknown, death disclosed a week later

Death and disclosure

Vladimir Uglev, a Russian chemist who helped develop the nerve agent Novichok, died on 26 October, according to The Insider. The death only became public about a week later, and no cause has been given. According to LBC, the reason for the delay in announcing it is also unknown. Uglev spent his final years in Anapa, a Black Sea resort. Christo Grozev of The Insider passed on the information, according to rmf24. Reports differ on his age: LBC and rmf24 say 80, while ANSA and Il Sole 24 ORE say 81.

Career and the Novichok work

Uglev was born in Kirovsk, Russia, on 20 September 1946. He graduated in 1975 from the Dmitri Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology, specialising in the chemistry and technology of biologically active substances. From 1975 to 1990 he worked as a senior researcher at the Volsk branch of the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, which took part in developing poisons. Blesk places the same period at a secret research facility in Saratov, so the sources differ on the location. LBC adds that in the 1990s he worked on some of the earliest Novichok agents at the Russian Defense Ministry's 33rd Central Scientific Research and Testing Institute.

Salisbury, Navalny and the car accident

Uglev's name became widely known in 2018, when he gave media interviews after Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury, England. He said he had no doubt the agent was A-234, and that the high purity of the sample suggested it may have come from a batch he had made himself. He accused the Kremlin of the attack, and according to Blesk he described it as an extraordinarily serious terrorist act against a permanent member of the UN Security Council. In 2020 he also commented on the properties of the poison used against Alexei Navalny, and rmf24 notes that Russia has consistently denied responsibility for such attacks.

“This was a state-level hit.”

Blesk reports that shortly after he publicly criticised the Kremlin, a car struck him on a pedestrian crossing near his home in Anapa, causing head and hand injuries. He later said he considered the crash an unfortunate accident. Posters carrying unfounded pedophilia accusations against him then appeared around the town. Police searched his home, checked electronic devices and took his fingerprints, but found no evidence.

UK sanctions and open questions

Earlier in 2026 the UK government sanctioned scientists and institutions responsible for developing the Novichok agent used in the 2018 Salisbury attack, but Uglev was not among those named, according to LBC. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

“Russia's repeated use of chemical weapons is a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security.”

Cooper pledged to keep calling out Russia's violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and to work with allies to deter further use. rmf24 reports that the group of substances has partly been listed by the OPCW as banned chemicals. The cause of death remains unknown, and no reason for the late announcement has been given. ANSA reports that Ukrainian media also covered the death.