Russia used chemical weapons during World War I in Ukraine – media

The Russian Federation is launching illegal chemical attacks against military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In recent months, this practice has become systematic. This was reported in an investigation by The Telegraph on Saturday, April 6.

The publication quoted the Ukrainian military as saying that they are regularly attacked by small drones that drop tear gas and other chemicals.

Senior Lieutenant Slava, whose unit is stationed near the town of Liman in the Donetsk region, said that some Ukrainian units in his area were subject to “almost daily” gas attacks.

One of these gas grenades was provided to The Telegraph for testing by Rebecca Machorowski, an American combat medic and qualified nurse serving in the Ukrainian army. The grenade was first seized by soldiers of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade, one of the brigades where he worked.

“My men found him during the shelling, because no one believed they were being attacked by chemical weapons,” Machorowski said.

Chemical weapons expert and former laboratory director of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Mark Michael Blum, confirmed that the munition found was a K-51 gas grenade, which is usually filled with tear gas.

In addition, Machorowski said he was present at an incident last year that he suspects was caused by hydrogen cyanide. It is a deadly colorless gas used by the West as a chemical weapon during World War I. According to him, a Russian drone dropped two munitions with an unknown gas with an “aroma of crushed almonds” on the military in the Donetsk region.

There are also reports of the use of chlorine and chloropicrin, a substance commonly used as a pesticide and used as a chemical weapon during World War I by German forces.

Officially, the Ukrainian military claims that since the start of the entire invasion, Russian troops have carried out 626 gas attacks. However, Rebecca Machorowski says this is a “significant underestimation.”

Igor, the commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance group stationed near the front-line town of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk region, said: “One or two gas grenades per day were dropped on almost all positions in our front sector .”

Many Ukrainian troops are in trenches and fortified areas underground, making it difficult for the Russians to attack with conventional artillery or missile-firing drones, he said.

“The only thing they can do is attack successfully. The only way they can attack us successfully is with gas,” Igor said.

We remind you that the Ukrainian Armed Forces recently reported that about 400 cases of the use of chemical weapons by the Russian Army were recorded in one month.

It was previously reported that the Russian Federation was using toxic substances in the direction of Novopavlovsk.