The West's knowledge of the secret Russian nerve agent the U.K. says was used to poison a former spy and his daughter came from a sample obtained by Germany in the 1990s, according to a report by German media organizations.
In a joint report published Wednesday, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the weekly Die Zeit and broadcasters NDR and WDR said Germany's BND spy agency had secured the sample of the Novichok nerve agent from a Russian scientist.
The sample was analyzed in Sweden and the chemical formula was given to the German government and military, the report cited sources as saying. Western countries used the information to help develop countermeasures.
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