Russia makes widespread use of chemical weapons, denounces the Netherlands

Dutch and German intelligence agencies said on Friday that Russia makes widespread use of forbidden chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the launch of a suffocation drone agent as a way to attract soldiers out of trenches to be shot. The evidence was obtained together by the two intelligence services, according to the news agency Reuters.

“The main conclusion is that we can confirm that Russia is intensifying the use of chemical weapons,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans told Reuters, asking for harder sanctions against Moscow.

“This intensification is worrying because it is part of a trend we have observed for several years, where the use of chemical weapons in Russia in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized and widespread,” he said.

Germany’s BND Foreign Intelligence Agency confirmed to Reuters the findings.

In May last year, the United States accused Russia of using chloropicrine, a more toxic chemical compound than pest control agents, first used by Germany during World War I. In humans, chloropicrine attacks lungs and acts as tear gas with lethal effects, being prohibited by the convention on chemical weapons (CWC).

Ukraine also states that Russia has used tear gas to clean trenches over a thousand times since the beginning of the war.

Russia, however, denies the use of illegal ammunition and accuses Ukraine to do so.

The organization for the ban on Chemical Weapons (OPAQ), the Hague Disarmament Agency that currently has 193 Member States, said last year that the initial accusations made by the parties involved in the conflict were “insufficiently grounded.”