The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed as unsubstantiated US claims that Russian invasion forces used chemical agents against Ukrainian soldiers in violation of the international chemical weapons treaty. According to Washington, the Russians used the suffocating agent chlorpicrin and chemical means to suppress the riots against the Ukrainian forces.
Moscow
12:17 p.m May 2, 2024
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The Kremlin rejects the use of chemical weapons Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina | Source: Reuters
“Russia has been and remains faithful to its obligations under international law in this area,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to a question from journalists on Thursday, according to Russian agency Interfax.
The US has accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention in Ukraine
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Russia launched a large-scale invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022, but encountered strong Ukrainian resistance and subsequently withdrew from some regions or the Ukrainians expelled the invading troops.
Heavy fighting is currently taking place in the east and south of Ukraine, where Ukrainian troops are reportedly running out of ammunition and the Russians are advancing slowly.
The US State Department said on Wednesday that the Russians resorted to the use of chemical agents and that this was not an isolated incident. “This is probably driven by the efforts of Russian forces to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and make tactical gains on the battlefield,” the US Department of Defense said, according to Reuters.
Chlorpicrin is on the list of banned asphyxiants of the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which monitors compliance with the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons (CWC). Both Russia and the US are signatories to the convention they connected
Ukraine’s military said earlier that Russia was increasingly using riot control agents as it stepped up efforts to advance on the front in eastern Ukraine, according to Reuters.
In addition to chlorpicrin, there are also CS and CN gases that are part of tear gas. While civilians during protests can usually escape riot gas, soldiers in trenches without gas masks must either flee under enemy fire or risk suffocation.
CTK
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