In the first weeks of the Russian aggression, there were reports that Russia was using banned chemical substances in Ukraine. And since February 2023, according to the Ukrainian army, this approach has become systematic. Similar information is also available to the US and Great Britain, which have imposed sanctions against the Kremlin in this regard. Russia officially denies everything. What is known so far?
To "get you out of the trench"
"I was poisoned with chloropicrin. Tears came out of my eyes, my throat started to burn and I had difficulty breathing", Alexander Selivanov, commander of a section in a company for radiation, chemical and biological protection, told DV.
According to him, this happened when he and other soldiers were in the trench. “I noticed that there was a drone above us. It dropped chloropicrin, which made the soldier next to me feel sick. Almost immediately, a second drone dropped a grenade at him, which killed him“, says Selivanov, adding that a Russian soldier then came to his trench and threw a grenade with chloropicrin. “It's good that it didn't explode. In the end, the artillery helped us, which destroyed the Russians, and we were able to get out of the trench.“
Russian troops use chemical weapons mainly to force Ukrainian fighters out of the trenches, Leonid Shelest, a company commander, explained to DW. “They are trying to get our people out of the trenches - when they throw chemical substances, it is impossible for them to stay underground. The fighters are forced to come to the surface, after which the Russians use mortars, artillery, small arms or drones.“
So far, 2,097 cases of Ukrainian servicemen seeking medical help with symptoms of chemical damage have been registered, Colonel Serhiy Pakhomov from the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Directorate of the Ukrainian army told DW. “Since the beginning of the war, three deaths have been recorded from the use of chemical agents.“
"Police" gas and chloropicrin
Since the beginning of the war, Russia has been sporadically using dangerous chemical agents in Ukraine, but since February 2023 it has begun to do so systematically, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army says. “By October 2024, 4,613 cases of the use of ammunition containing dangerous chemical agents were recorded. In 80 percent of cases, the tear gases chloroacetophenone and chlorbenzalmalonodinitrile were used“, says Sergey Pakhomov.
These gases were synthesized more than 100 years ago, law enforcement agencies in different countries still use them to disperse demonstrations. But they are prohibited in warfare by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
“These are the so-called police gases. The thing is that when a rally is dispersed, the demonstrators are still free to move to another place, while the soldier cannot leave his position. He either comes out of the trench and then a classic grenade is thrown at him, or he puts on a gas mask, which reduces visibility. In the third case, he receives chemical damage“, explains Pakhomov.
In addition to using these gases, Russian units use chloropicrin or unknown dangerous chemical mixtures, Pakhomov notes. “At the front, we found chloropicrin in the liberated territories where there were Russian positions.“ Chloropicrin, known since World War I, is a suffocating substance that irritates the respiratory tract, nose, throat and especially the lungs, causes nausea and stomach upset, and symptoms can last for weeks. The use of chloropicrin is prohibited under any circumstances - it is on the list of banned chemicals of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
At the same time, Pakhomov points out that the trend of using chemicals has weakened recently. "Until May 2024, their quantity was constantly growing - that was the peak. I think the decrease is due to the fact that Ukraine registers everything and seeks to prove violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia is aware of. On the other hand, Russia does not seem to see the expected effect from the use of chemical substances.“
Ukraine's permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Oleksandr Karasevich, told DW that Ukraine has repeatedly provided facts about Russia's use of banned chemical substances, but has not yet received an official technical conclusion confirming their use.
What does protection from chemical substances look like
Russia denies accusations that it uses banned chemical agents. Moreover, it accuses the Ukrainian military of using them, and systematically. Sergei Pakhomov refutes these accusations: "The Ukrainian Defense Forces do not use agents containing police gases."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian servicemen complain about a shortage of personal protective equipment. "We use Soviet models, but we need better equipment that would really save the lives of the military - for example, NATO-style gas masks," Leonid Shelest told DW. He added: "However, soldiers in the trenches do not always manage to use them, they cannot constantly wear gas masks." And Sergey Pakhomov specifies that the deaths among the Ukrainian military are due precisely to the fact that the fighter failed to put on a gas mask in time or did not have one.
Author: Alexander Kunitsky