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Moscow is increasingly using chemical weapons banned by international conventions. Ukrainian soldiers are being forced to flee trenches exposed to sniper fire…
Missiles and drones, Iranian and Chinese, but also banned chemical weapons. This is the arsenal of weapons that Russia is attacking Ukraine with, sparing none of the war materials at its disposal.
And the Kremlin is using them more and more intensively, turning it into standard practice in the conflict. This is what we read in a report prepared by the Dutch secret services Aivd (general intelligence and security service) and Mivd (military intelligence service), as well as the German foreign intelligence agency (BND), which cite information collected from within the Ukrainian government. Since the beginning of the war, the document says, the Russian military has used chemical weapons to carry out over 9,000 attacks in Ukraine.
The use of tear gas and chloropicrin, a highly irritating chemical agent, by Russian troops "is now standardized and commonplace," Dutch intelligence agencies said.
"It is highly likely that this use will continue to pose a threat in the future," the AIVD and MIVD said in the report, not hiding the fear of a threat to other European countries as well.
According to the report, "the use of this weapon is dangerous not only for Ukraine, but also for the rest of Europe and the world."
At least three Ukrainian soldiers are said to have died from direct exposure to toxic substances. But the real number, the Dutch 007s explain, is much higher: the use of chemical weapons often forces Ukrainian soldiers to leave the trenches, exposing them to fire from conventional ammunition. And so the indirect casualties multiply. Among the documented episodes, the use of chloropicrin spread through improvised devices is reported: lamps, bottles and other containers released from drones. Tear gas has also been modified for use in a war context, loaded into specially adapted ammunition.
"Russia used a banned chemical weapon in Ukraine"
This is not an isolated allegation. Artem Vlasiuk, head of civil defense of the Department of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense of the Ukrainian Army, had already denounced that over 2,000 soldiers had been poisoned since the beginning of the conflict. Three of them died. In most cases, it was tear gas similar to that used by the police during riots to maintain public order, but repurposed as a weapon of war.
What are the deadly effects of chloropicrin?
It has long been known that Russia used tear gas, but less well known was the use of chloroquine against Kiev’s soldiers. It is an organic chemical compound, a colorless liquid with a strong odor, and is highly toxic if it comes into contact with the eyes, skin, and enters the respiratory tract. Its main application is in agriculture and industry, but it also has a military use. For this reason, chloroquine is classified as a suffocating agent and is banned by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an organization created to implement and monitor compliance with the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Chloroquine is deadly in confined spaces, and the CWC prohibits its use under all circumstances.
During World War I, chloropicrin was used as a chemical weapon, classified as a tear gas and incendiary gas. Released by grenades or aerial bombs, it causes acute eye irritation, nausea and vomiting, but in high concentrations it can cause lung damage and lead to death. It was quickly replaced by more lethal or strategically effective chemical agents. It is now a major player in the war in Ukraine.
But Ukraine is also accused of using chemical weapons.
Russia, despite being a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and having officially destroyed its declared stockpiles, like the United States, is once again at the center of accusations of using chemical agents in Ukraine.
In May last year, the US State Department also accused Russia of using chemical weapons in the conflict in Ukraine. In that case, Moscow was accused of using chloropicrin. "The use of these chemicals is not an isolated incident and is attributed to an attempt to drive Ukrainian forces from fortified positions, gaining tactical advantages on the battlefield," Washington stressed. The Kremlin dismissed the accusations as "baseless."
But Russia, represented by the acting governor of the Russian Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, had also denounced in recent months the use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian forces involved in the intervention in the territory. But last year the OPCW had declared that the mutual accusations made by Russia and Ukraine were "insufficient". In light of the new revelations, a new measure could come from the European Commission, which could introduce a new package of sanctions. The European executive has proposed the inclusion of 15 new entities and individuals in the framework of sanctions, precisely in connection with the suspected use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. / Adapted Pamphlet from Today /
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