US Accuses Russia Of Using Chloropicrin's Forbidden Chemicals Against Ukrainian Soldiers

ILLUSTRATION PHOTO/Ukraine Army/DOK Via Instagram @ukraine.ua

JAKARTA - The United States (US) accuses Russia of using chemical weapons as a method of war against Ukraine and imposing new sanctions on Russian companies and government agencies.

In a statement on Wednesday, May 1, local time, the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had made a decision... that Russia had used chloropicrin chemicals against Ukrainian troops that were a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Russia also used the governing agent of the riots,' or tear gas, during the war that violated the CWC.

"The use of these chemicals is not an isolated incident, and may be driven by the desire of Russian troops to expel Ukrainian troops from a position fortified and achieve tactical advantages on the battlefield," he said.

This US conclusion is in line with the testimony of Ukrainian troops who say they are facing an increase in encounters with gas and other sending chemicals on their front lines against Russian troops in recent months.

In a statement posted on social media in March, the Ukrainian army said it recorded more than a thousand incidents in which Russia used a water gas ambulance equipped with toxic chemicals forbidden for warfare, with 250 cases only in February.

Russia previously denied using chemical weapons.

"There are no chemical weapons in Russian army supplies, as confirmed by international investigations," the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands wrote on page X (formerly Twitter), according to a report from state-run TASS news in January 2024.

Chloropicrin was widely used as a chemical war material in World War I, but is no longer permitted for military use, and is now mostly used in agriculture, according to the CDC. This causes irritation of the lungs, eyes, and skin, and can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that lasts for weeks, according to the CDC.