Anticipating Possible 'Chemical Attack' In Ukraine, WHO Prepares Contingency Plan

Ilustrasi WHO. (Wikimedia Commons/United States Mission Geneva)

JAKARTA - The regional head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe said on Thursday the agency was preparing for a possible "chemical attack" in Ukraine, in a sign they were taking warnings from the West and Moscow seriously.

"Given the uncertainty of the current situation, there is no guarantee that the war will not get worse," said Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, in a briefing from Lviv, Ukraine.

"WHO is considering all scenarios and making contingencies, for the different situations that could befall the Ukrainian people, from follow-up care of mass casualties to chemical attacks," he said.

He declined to provide further details on the preparations.

Kluge also said the WHO is coordinating with the European Union to triage patients arriving from Ukraine and arrange for them to be sent for treatment in Europe.

In the same briefing, delayed by air raid sirens, WHO incident director Heather Papowitz said Ukraine is an industrialized nation with a 'chemical hazard' all over which could be exposed to different attacks.

Previously, Western officials have repeatedly voiced concerns Russia could use chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine, at the risk of spillover effects abroad, without providing evidence.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry has accused Kyiv, without providing evidence, of planning chemical attacks against its own people, to accuse Moscow of using chemical weapons in the invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.