The Ukrainian army has begun preparing its soldiers for chemical attacks after accusing Russia of stepping up its illegal use of tear gas on the battlefield. Tear gas is banned in combat zones under the Chemical Weapons Convention, but Kiev claims Moscow is using the compounds illegally. A Ukrainian soldier told Reuters that he quickly put on his gas mask after a Russian drone flying over his trench on the Eastern Front fired a tear gas grenade: “It’s like pepper spray, it makes your eyes water.” It’s not lethal, but it’s disturbing and knocks you out once inhaled.” The Ukrainian military says Russia has stepped up its use of illegal riot control agents on the front to try to clear trenches as it begins to make more progress in the east, despite such substances being banned on the battlefield under the International Weapons Convention. chemicals, of which Russia and Ukraine are signatories. While civilians usually manage to escape tear gas used to quell riots or protests in cities, soldiers stuck in trenches without gas masks are forced to flee under enemy fire or risk suffocation.
THE DATA
Colonel Serhii Pakhomov, acting head of the army’s Atomic, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, explained that Kiev has recorded around 900 uses of riot control agents by Russia in the past six months out of more than 1,400 since the February 2022 invasion . Moscow mainly used K-51, VOH and RH-VO hand grenades loaded with CS, CN and other gases, Pakhomov told Reuters in an interview. The Ukrainian army had previously claimed that Russian forces also used chloropicrin, which was already used during the First World War. The Russian embassy in the Netherlands, where the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is based, told confirmed. In turn, the government headed by Putin had previously accused Ukrainian forces of using chemical weapons, which Kiev denies.
THE CONSEQUENCES ON HEALTH
Five hundred Ukrainian soldiers needed medical attention after exposure to toxic substances on the battlefield and at least one soldier died after suffocating from tear gas, Pakhomov said. “In addition to demoralization, the person loses physical capabilities: he doesn’t see, he doesn’t breathe, he’s all irritated – explained the Ukrainian colonel – Yes, it’s temporary, but it’s precisely the moment when the enemy can exploit this situation.” The Ukrainian army is distributing gas masks and conducting exercises to prepare the military to defend their position during such attacks. In an exercise near Kharkiv, instructors told Reuters that gas masks help protect troops from almost all combat poisons, but the length of exposure could affect their effectiveness.
Volodymyr, 37, a doctor in the Donetsk region, reported: “They complain of gas attacks of different characteristics – colorless, blue or green – and with a strong chemical odor. The symptoms look like irritation.” Natalia Khovanets, 53, a head nurse at a Ukrainian army medical unit in the Luhansk region, told Reuters she had treated soldiers who had been hit by tear gas grenades fired from a Russian drone.
“The symptoms we saw were bitterness in the patients’ mouths, dizziness.”
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