US Accuses Russia of Using Chemical Weapons in Ukraine: Latest Updates

Russia is systematically using chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, the United States says. The Russian army is said to be using the poison chloropicrin against Ukrainian soldiers, among other things. The Kremlin has not yet responded to the accusation.

Washington Steel that Moscow has violated the international Chemical Weapons Convention CWC. The Americans are imposing a series of sanctions against Russian individuals and companies that the US believes are involved in the production or use of these resources.

The Russians would also be called riot control agents use, which are agents such as tear gas and pepper spray. The police can use them during riots, for example, but they are forbidden in war. Ingesting chloropicrin leads to all kinds of symptoms: from burning eyes to nausea and breathing problems. It’s not like zero gas, where exposure to a small amount is fatal in the short term.

“This is not an isolated incident,” the US State Department said in a statement. According to the Americans, Russia is likely to use chemical weapons for tactical effects on the battlefield. The Russian army has been ‘ steadily gaining ground in Ukraine in recent months.

Ukraine has been accusing Russia of using chloropicrin for weeks. According to Ukraine there is already an army hundreds of times grenades containing the poison gas fired by Russia. This would also happen through drones.

According to the US, the practice is now fully confirmed, but no evidence has been published. Russia has consistently denied previous allegations of chemical weapons use in Ukraine. On the other hand, the Kremlin says that the Ukrainian army used such methods, but it does not provide any evidence.

The US says Russia has used chemical weapons more frequently in recent years. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague has concluded that Russian opposition leader Navalny was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in 2020. This poisonous gas, developed in the Soviet Union, also found in the former Russian spy Skripal, who was poisoned along with his daughter in the United Kingdom. Moscow says it had nothing to do with those poisons.