The United States has accused Russia of deploying and using chemical weapons in Ukraine as a “tool of war,” in violation of international law.
According to U.S. State Department officials, Russia used Chloropicrin as a choking agent to achieve “victory on the battlefield” in Ukraine, which violates the Chemical Weapons Convention that Russia has signed. They added that these accusations are not isolated incidents.
The Kremlin has rejected these accusations, calling them “baseless.” Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated in Moscow that Russia is committed to fulfilling its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The convention prohibits countries from developing or acquiring new chemical weapons, and approximately 193 countries have ratified the treaty.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the global watchdog organization responsible for overseeing the implementation of the convention. The organization defines chemical weapons as substances intended to cause death or harm through their toxic properties.
The convention explicitly prohibits the use of Chloropicrin in warfare, with the OPCW categorizing it as a choking agent.
The U.S. claims that Russia used Chloropicrin to “drive Ukrainian forces out of fortified positions.” This oily substance was widely used during World War I. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that Chloropicrin can irritate the lungs, eyes, and skin, and may cause vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea.
Additionally, the U.S. State Department has accused Moscow of frequently using riot control agents or tear gas during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
President Biden had previously warned Russia against deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine. In March 2022, several weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden vowed that if Russian President Putin authorized the use of chemical weapons, he would face “heavy consequences.”
President Biden cautioned, “If he uses chemical weapons, we will respond, and the nature of the response will depend on the nature of their use.”
However, there have been reports indicating that Moscow has ignored this warning. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Mallory Stewart had previously stated that Russia used riot control agents in the conflict with Ukraine.
Ukraine has reported facing increasingly frequent chemical weapon attacks in recent months. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Russian forces used grenades containing CS and CN tear gas.
Reuters also reported that at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers had been treated for exposure to toxic gases, with one fatality from tear gas asphyxiation.
Three Russian entities involved in the production of chemical agents for the Ukrainian battlefield have been sanctioned by the U.S. State Department, and other companies contributing to these entities have also faced sanctions.
In 2017, the OPCW stated that Russia had destroyed the last batch of chemical weapons stored since the Cold War in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. However, according to the UK Parliament library, Moscow has since been accused of incomplete reporting on its chemical weapon stockpiles.
Since 2017, Russia has been accused of launching at least two chemical weapon attacks: the “attack” on a former Soviet intelligence officer in Salisbury, England, and the attempted assassination of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020. Earlier this year, Navalny died in a Siberian prison. The Russian government denies any involvement in the death of the opposition leader, but Navalny’s widow has accused Putin of his murder.
(Reference: BBC News)