Donbass People's Militias and Russia's regular Army began finding evidence of suspected Ukrainian preparations to employ chemical weapons last spring. Kiev and its Western sponsors have issued counterclaims, accusing Russia of using or preparing to use its non-existent chemical weapons stocks.i
Ukrainian forces have resorted to the use of chemical weapons in the Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) and Ugledar directions on the front line in the Donbass, Donetsk People's Republic head Denis Pushilin has announced.
"According to the statements of our forces, and commanders who came forward with such information, there are facts of the use of chemical compounds causing sickness among our servicemen not only in the Artyomovsk direction, but also in the Ugledar direction," Pushilin said in an interview with Russian media on Monday.
Pushilin said he has been receiving such reports for at least three weeks now. "They are dropping [chemical weapons] from drones on the locations of our forces," the DPR head clarified.
Earlier in the day, Yan Gagin, an advisor to Pushilin, similarly told Russian media about the employment of chemical agents by the Ukrainian side, and said the agents being used were causing severe dizziness, nausea, and vomiting among some fighters.
Gagin indicated that chemical weapons have been used by the Ukrainian side for some time now, with attacks happening "along the entire front line as substances causing nausea, choking and coughing," and the chemicals being "sprayed from special containers installed on drones."
According to the World Health Organization, symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and coughing may be signs of exposure to potentially deadly nerve agents.
The official said some Ukrainian troops have been openly boasting of their possession of these illegal weapons online, posting videos of specially-designed drones and imported gas grenades on social media. Gagin urged for information about the use of these illegal weapons to be systematically gathered and sent to the United Nations.
Russian and Donbass forces began reporting on Ukraine's alleged plans to use chemical weapons last spring. At the Army-2022 expo outside Moscow last year, the Russian military demonstrated DJI Agras T30 unmanned aerial vehicles captured in Mariupol, as well as protective equipment including gas masks sent to Kiev by Germany and the Czech Republic as military aid. DJI drones are purpose-built for use in agriculture, and feature sprayer equipment as well as onboard cameras and navigation equipment.
In addition to concerns about chemical weapons being deployed against Russian troops, Moscow has regularly expressed concerns about these arms' potential use in provocations against critical infrastructure and civilians by Kiev to accuse Russia of war crimes.
Along with chemical weapons, the Russian military has regularly briefed officials, the public, and the international community on extensive US-funded and run pathogen research and bioweapons programs in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia are signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention, with these treaties designed to severely restrict both countries' military biological and chemical weapons research and stockpiling activities. Russia dismantled the last of its Soviet-era chemical weapons stocks in 2017. Ukraine also had no declared chemical weapons stocks at this time.
Search underway for ways to protect troops from Ukrainian chemical weapons — DPR leader
A search for additional ways to protect troops from the chemical weapons that Ukrainian forces are using is underway in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the region’s Acting Head Denis Pushilin said on Monday.
"We currently seek to equip our units [with chemical protection suits]. Then again, we have some of the things that we need but it’s not always comfortable to constantly wear chemical protection suits while in position. Certainly, it makes it harder for our forces to perform their missions so we are looking for additional ways to protect our troops," he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Pushilin pointed out that experts had not yet had the chance to figure out what substances the Ukrainian forces were using. "They trigger coughing, followed by watery eyes and general discomfort," he said, describing the effect of the Ukrainian chemical weapons.
Yan Gagin, an advisor to the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) leader, said earlier that the Kiev regime’s forces had used chemical weapons along the Soledar and Artyomovsk frontlines on February 5. He stressed that it wasn’t the first time that Ukraine had used chemical weapons. Gagin added that the Ukrainian military made no secret that it had prohibited weapons, posting videos showing imported gas grenades and drones designed for discharging them. Pushilin said on Monday that evidence corroborating the use of chemical weapons by the Armed Forces of Ukraine had also been found along the Ugledar frontline.
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