Новичок is the umbrella name of dozens of substances of which 4 are now widely known. The mastermind behind those substances is long dead.

The guy you are referring to is one of the two defectors and he was mostly an office clerk with access to top secret documents. Take his comments with care.

Moreover, institutions that worked on these substances in 1970..1980 still exist today. You do not know what they produce now, but given the general decline in scientific research in Russia, I am not surprised their deliverables barely work.