Vladimir Uglev was run over by a car and left with serious injuries days after saying that he may have helped develop the novichok used in the Salisbury attack. But, although bruised and battered, the Russian scientist insists it was just an accident, and is adamant that he will continue to speak out despite fearing that he may be targeted.

Speaking after he returned from hospital treatment, Mr Uglev said Moscow’s denial of culpability over the attempted assassinations of Sergei and Yulia Skripal do not withstand scrutiny. “The Russian explanation does not match other explanations. What [Russian foreign minister Sergei] Lavrov says is simply not true from the scientific point of view.”

Mr Uglev was mown down by a car on a pedestrian crossing near his home in Anapa on the Black Sea a few days after publicly stating: “If you’re asking who made the substances that poisoned the Skripals, his name and his country, it is possible it was made by my hands.” Manufacture had taken place, he claimed, at the government laboratory where he worked at Shikhany, near Saratov.

Describing the accident, 71-year-old Mr Uglev recounted how he was crossing the road when he saw that an approaching car make no attempt to slow down. He had started running, but got hit nevertheless, jumping on to the bonnet to save himself from going under the wheels, suffering wounds to his head when it hit the windscreen in the process.

Mr Uglev showed the bruises left on his head and arm from the crash which, he says, he believes was just an accident. However, asked if he felt that he may be targeted over his disclosures, he responded: “Everyone is afraid, but you have to control your fear. There is a song I keep thinking of: ‘I am free, I forget what fear means; but I always look around for danger’.”

Mr Uglev held there was very little chance of novichok being acquired privately by the Skripals’ attackers. “There isn’t a black market for this; you need professionals and correct lab conditions which are good enough to carry out production. Whoever did this (carried out the attack) was a professional.”

Mr Uglev said he believed that former MI6 agent Mr Skripal and his daughter escaped death because “the dose was not large enough, they may have been wearing thick clothing and they could have washed their hands like every normal person in the course of the day after the initial contact with the substance”.

He recalled the experiments carried out in transporting novichok in the laboratory, speaking in an interview which will be broadcast in full on bTV Bulgaria’s Svetoslav Ivanov’s 120 Minutes programme on Sunday.

The substance, he stated, “could be carried in a small container, a lipstick-tube size, or the size of a tube of glue. Whoever put the substance on the Skripals’ door handle could avoid contamination by wearing gloves, which could be later destroyed, and simply by briefly holding his breath.” Musing over motivation for the attempted murders, he asked: “Why would the Americans want to kill the Skripals, why would England? It is said they could have done, but why the daughter?”

Russian chemical expert Vladimir Uglev in 2011 (AP)

The nerve agent, when not at full strength, need not, held Mr Uglev, be lethal. Everything depended on the dosage as the Skripal case had shown. He himself had survived an accident in the laboratory. “I had dropped some on my right arm, I felt irritation on my right arm for five, six years, but that is all.”

Mr Uglev remains adamant that the novichok used on the Skripals came, almost certainly, from his laboratory. “I can tell by the spectrometry readings, the presence of fluorine, by its molecular weight and all the spectrum data I was sent recently,” he said.

Some others who had fallen foul of the Kremlin wonder whether Mr Uglev will survive if he keeps speaking out. Vil Mirzayanov, a senior scientist who had spent years testing and developing novichok and then revealed its existence to the world, told The Independent: “One can say it’s almost suicidal for Uglev to remain in Russia after saying what he has. It would have been better if he had said these things from outside the country. He needs to be very careful now.”

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile “spy swap” in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Police investigation - Skripal’s home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripal’s house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been “turned upside down” by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters

Mr Mizyanov, who now lives in America, continued: “I have the protection of the United States government which gives me a certain level of safety. But for Uglev to talk about novichok while staying in the country is a very rash thing to do in the current climate.”

Mr Mirzayanov was fired and jailed after making public a new generation of chemical weapons which he said was being secretly produced by Russia. He gave his account to the Russian media in 1991 after being angry and alarmed about what was being hidden by the country’s military, including novichok. The charges were dropped after intervention by the US government and the Soros Foundation, and he was given asylum in America.