Ukraine accuses Russian forces of using chemical weapons in combat thousands of times

Ukraine has accused Russia of using chemical weapons on the battlefield during a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Dutch city of The Hague, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian delegation, led by the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director for international security Andriy Kasyanov, presented evidence of Russia’s systematic violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and alleged that Moscow used weapons that were designed to control crowds in its war against the country.

In the past two years alone, Kyiv recorded over 6,900 instances of chemical munitions being used by Russian forces in Ukraine, 844 of which occurred between 24 December and 24 January. It also recorded over 2,100 instances of servicemen being admitted for treatment for exposure to chemical weapons, three cases of which resulted in death.

To further support its claims, Ukraine presented evidence to the OPCW in the form of five Russian RG-Vo gas grenades, as well as soil and grass samples containing CS gas, a substance used for crowd control. Kasyanov alleged that the grenades were manufactured by Russian companies. The use of such weapons in combat would represent a gross violation of the CWC.

Kasyanov stressed the importance of further isolating Russia on the international stage and stressed that war crimes and crimes against humanity had no statute of limitations, urging the international community to demonstrate unity in confronting Russian aggression and in holding Moscow accountable for violations of the convention.