The Russian army has used the banned chemical substance chloropicrin in Ukraine / Article

The US believes that the use of poisonous substances in hostilities shows Russia’s determination to push Ukrainian forces out of defensive positions and achieve tactical success by any means.

The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has banned chloropicrin, a liquid whose vapors attack the skin and mucous membranes and, in high concentrations, cause uncontrollable spasms in the diaphragm.

It was first used by German troops during the First World War.

“Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers I have spoken to have told me how they experience almost daily enemy drones dropping chemical weapons on them, mostly tear gas, but also chloropicrin, a more lethal version of tear gas,” the foreign policy and security official said. analyst Jimmy Rushton.

“These attacks are happening every day, and not in one place on the front, but everywhere, from Kharkiv to Zaporizhzhia. This is being carried out by Russia as a systematic tactic and not by one unit that decided to have fun. It is a determined strategy to gain the upper hand over the defenders of Ukraine .”

Russia has also used other chemicals on the front in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion, at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for chemical exposure to their bodies, and one soldier has died of tear gas poisoning, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russia has used several chemical agents on the Ukrainian front during the war. The enemy uses, for example, grenades with CS and CN type tear gas on the battlefield.

Although we often hear about the use of tear gas to quell protests, its use in wartime is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

This gas is not lethal, but it causes panic, which can cause soldiers to leave the trenches and thus become vulnerable to conventional weapons. If earlier tear gas was used sporadically, now the attacks are taking place systematically.

According to the Americans, the use of poisonous substances in warfare shows Russia’s determination to push Ukrainian forces out of defensive positions and achieve tactical success by any means. The Americans also believe that chlorpicrin has also been used in Russia to suppress mass protests in the country. Russia has also used chemical weapons in the so-called Salisbury incident in Great Britain and in the poisoning of the deceased Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

The US, meanwhile, has imposed new sanctions on hundreds of companies and people linked to Russia’s weapons development program. Russian government entities and individuals associated with Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs are also subject to sanctions.

The new sanctions, imposed by the US Treasury Department and the State Department, target both Russia’s military-industrial complex and chemical weapons programs, as well as people and companies in third countries that help Russia buy weapons components.

Companies in countries such as China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have been accused of helping Russia buy technology and equipment from abroad. For example, more than ten Chinese companies are subject to sanctions. The purpose of the sanctions is to block these countries’ ability to use the US financial system and prohibit US citizens from doing business with these countries.

Sanctions are also applied to importers of cotton pulp and nitrocellulose. These materials are used in the production of gunpowder and explosives. Russian government structures and individuals related to Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs are also subject to sanctions. Sanctions have been imposed against the Russian Defense Ministry’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, two institutes and four companies.