NATO Allies Sound Alarm on Russia Chemical Weapons [View all]
Source: Newsweek
Published Jul 04, 2025 at 3:28 AM EDT | Updated Jul 04, 2025 at 11:35 AM EDT
Dutch and German intelligence services believe Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the routine deployment of the chemical agent chloropicrin, which can be deadly when used in enclosed spaces. The assessment was revealed by the Dutch Defense Ministry on Friday, July 4.
It said the conclusion on Russia's use of chloropicrin is shared by the Dutch military and general intelligence services, MIVD and AIVD, and Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND. A spokesperson for Russia's Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told Newsweek they have faced similar allegations since February 2022, but "then, as well as now, no evidence was presented."
Chloropicrin is banned in war under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Moscow is a signatory. Russia is already widely using tear gas, the Dutch Defense Ministry said, and called the deployment of chloropicrin a "grave violation" of the CWC.
In 2024, the U.S. State Department had accused Russia of using chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces, and of having used "riot control agents as a method of warfare" in breach of the CWC.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/nato-allies-sound-alarm-russia-chemical-weapons-2094592
= new reply since forum marked as read