Washington says Moscow has flouted the global ban on chemical weapons. Russia is said to have used the asphyxiant gas chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and civilians. According to the US State Department, tear gas grenades were also fired, which is prohibited in wartime.
During World War I, German troops used chloropicrin extensively against the Allies. It was one of the first uses of a chemical weapon. The asphyxiant gas is still used as a pesticide in agriculture, but it has been banned in war since the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). That treaty has been ratified by Russia.
The use of tear gas is also prohibited in wartime. Civilians can usually escape the gases during protests, but soldiers trapped in trenches without gas masks must either brave enemy fire or risk suffocation.
Asphyxiated by tear gas
The accusation against the Russians is consistent with statements by Ukrainian troops about the increased use of gas and other irritating chemicals at the front. In March, the Ukrainian military said more than 1,000 incidents involving chemicals have been reported, with 250 cases reported in February alone. At least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for exposure to toxic substances, according to the army. One soldier suffocated as a result of the use of tear gas.
The US State Department says Russia’s use of chloropicrin and its “continued disregard” of the arms treaty are from the same playbook as the operations to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent Novichok. Russia denied involvement at the time.
New sanctions
Following the accusation, the US has imposed new sanctions on more than 280 individuals and companies involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine. They include twenty companies in China and Hong Kong. The sanctions mean that all American assets of the companies and individuals will be frozen and Americans will no longer be allowed to do business with those companies and individuals.
America also says it will impose sanctions on three Russian state institutions linked to chemical and biological weapons, including a specialized military unit that allegedly facilitated the use of chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces. Four companies associated with those institutions have also been sanctioned.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating the treaty during meetings of the OPCW – the organization that monitors compliance with the chemical weapons treaty – but the OPCW says it has not been formally asked to investigate the use of banned substances in Ukraine.
