US Alleges Russian Forces Used Chemical Weapons in Ukraine, Violating International Ban

The U.S. State Department accused the Russian military on Wednesday of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian military forces in violation of the international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The State Department has notified Congress of this chemical weapons determination as required under the U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW).

“The Department of State has made a determination under the CBW Act that Russia has used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC),” the department announced. “We make this determination in addition to our assessment that Russia has used riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC.”

Chloropicrin was one of the first chemicals deliberately and systematically used as a chemical weapon, with German forces employing it against the Allies during World War I.

The State Department concluded that Russian forces had likely begun employing chloropicrin and these other riot control chemicals as a means of dislodging Ukrainian forces from fortified positions as they sought to assert control over an expanding swath of Ukrainian territory.

Read Full Article Here