Russia launches daily attacks on Ukrainian positions using banned chemical weapons, the Telegraph reported.
According to the report, citing front-line Ukrainian troops, Russian forces are using these weapons in an attempt to sow panic before launching attacks on Ukrainian positions.
The report said Russia is using drones to drop grenades filled with CS gas, a chemical agent whose use in war is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Ihor, the commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance team deployed near the front-line city by Chasiv Yarin Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, told the media outlet that Russian forces were having difficulty dislodging Ukrainian forces using artillery and were therefore using poison gas.
“Their first instinct is to get out,” he said of Ukrainian troops coming under attack, meaning they can then be attacked by other weapons after breaking cover.
The Telegraph reported that a chemical weapons expert, Marc-Michael Blum, had verified that a grenade used by Russia on the battlefield was a CS gas canister.
The report also cites unverified claims that Russia uses more lethal chemical agents, including chlorine, chloropicrin and hydrogen cyanide, all of which can be deadly.
Ukraine said on Friday it had recorded 1,412 cases of discovering harmful chemicals in munitions between February 2023 and March 2024.
According to Ukraine, attacks are becoming more and more frequent.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook that in March alone there were 371 cases, 90 more than in the previous period.
Business Insider has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Last year, a Russian military unit, the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, openly bragged about using CS gas in attacks on Ukrainian troops, releasing a video gas canisters dropped by drones to smoke out Ukrainian troops from their positions, kyiv reported. Job.
Ukrainian forces are struggling to prevent Russia from breaking through its defensive positions in the east and south of the country.
Russia is stepping up its attacks, with Ukrainian forces running out of ammunition as congressional Republicans block a $60 billion U.S. aid bill.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United States to approve more funding and warned that Ukraine would “lose the war” without it.
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