The United States has accused Russia of using chemical weapons in the war against Ukraine. This is stated in the official message of the US State Department on the introduction of new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions were imposed, according to the report, to increase the burden on Russia for its external aggression and internal repression.
More than 200 individuals and companies are on the sanctions list by the Treasury Department. The State Department imposed sanctions against about 80 companies and individuals, including in connection with Russia’s alleged violation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
According to the report, the State Department concluded that Russia had used the poisonous substance chloropicrin against the Ukrainian military. This substance is on the blacklist of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Chloropicrin does not belong to the nerve agents – the most dangerous ones – but has irritating and, in large concentrations, asphyxiating effect. It was used in particular in World War I. The State Department’s report also notes that Russian troops are also using similar irritants in Ukraine, which are usually used by the police to disperse demonstrations. According to the US Department of State, this is not about individual cases, but a targeted tactic to achieve tactical successes on the battlefield. It is noted that Russia continues to violate the OPCW convention, as in the case of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Alexei Navalny with the nerve agent Novichok.
The use of chemicals on the battlefield by Russian troops was previously claimed by the Ukrainian military. There have been no reports of casualties as a result of their use, or whether it has brought Russian troops any success.
Moscow has not yet reacted to the US allegations.
The State Department’s sanctions list includes the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Defense Ministry, as well as NIIPA (Research Institute of Applied Acoustics) and the 48th Central Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry. All are allegedly involved in the development of chemical and biological weapons.
The State Department also imposed sanctions against a number of companies related to Novatek’s Arctic LNG-2 project, nine ships, a number of coal mining companies belonging to the Sibantratsit group, companies associated with Rosatom, a number of military-industrial companies and their executives, as well as three employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service related to the detention of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who died in the colony.
