Over 6,000 cases of Russian use of chemicals recorded over 2 years, Ukraine says
Russia has been intensifying its use of chemical agents on the battlefield in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the all-out war, Ukraine's radiation, chemical, and biological intelligence units have been monitoring and recording the use of hazardous chemicals in attacks.
For a recent report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), experts analyzed the materials provided by Ukraine, including four Russian RG-Vo type gas grenades, as well as soil and grass samples.
Two OPCW laboratories confirmed that they contained riot control agent known as CS. Among other hazardous chemicals, chloroacetophenone (CN), as well as chloropicrin and mercaptans (malodorants) were found, according to the statement.
By using them, Russia violates Article 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Foreign Ministry said.
"The international community must demonstrate its unity in countering the aggressor, and a practical element of this should be the establishment of an international coalition to hold the Russian Federation accountable for the violation of its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention," the statement read.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, more than 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been hospitalized with chemical poisoning, and three have died, Ukrainian Colonel Artem Vlasiuk said in December 2024.
Ukraine struck back at Russia's use of illegal chemical weapons on Dec. 17, when the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) assassinated Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces' radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops.
The previous day, Ukrainain prosecutors charged Kirillov in absentia for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Read also: Editorial: America is folding. Europe, will you step up?
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