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Ukraine states Russia steps up unlawful usage of tear gas to clear trenches

The Ukrainian infantryman, call sign Ray, stated he quickly pulled on his gas mask after a Russian drone flying above his trench on the eastern front dropped a tear gas grenade.

It resembles pepper spray, it makes your eyes tear up. It's. not lethal, but it disturbs and knocks you out. It makes it very. challenging to carry out your responsibilities as soon as you have actually inhaled it, he. told of the attack he said he experienced in January.

The Ukrainian military states Russia has ramped up its prohibited. usage of riot control agents on the front to attempt to clear trenches. as it starts to make larger advances in the east more than 2. years considering that its major invasion.

Riot control agents such as tear gas are prohibited on the. battlefield by the international Chemical Defense Convention,. which Russia and Ukraine are signatories to.

While civilians can generally get away from tear gas used to. break up riots or demonstrations in cities, soldiers stuck in trenches. without gas masks must either leave under enemy fire or threat. suffocating on the gas.

Colonel Serhii Pakhomov, acting head of the military's. atomic, biological and chemical defence forces, said Kyiv had. recorded around 900 usages of riot control representatives by Russia in the. past six months out of over 1,400 considering that the Feb. 2022 invasion.

Russia mainly used K-51, VOH and RH-VO hand-grenades filled. with CS, CN and other gases, he informed in an interview. Ukraine's military previously alleged that Russian forces likewise. used chloropicrin, which was utilized as toxin gas in World War I.

Russia's embassy in The Netherlands, where the Organisation. for the Prohibition of Chemical Defense (OPCW) is based, said on. X in January that accusations about Russia's usage of grenades. with CN gas usage unofficial data. Russia's defence ministry did. not respond to an ask for comment for this article.

Moscow formerly implicated Ukrainian forces of using chemical. weapons, something Kyiv rejects. has actually not had the ability to. separately validate making use of banned chemical compounds by. either side.

UKRAINE CONDUCTS GAS MASK DRILLS

Five hundred Ukrainian troops have needed medical aid. after exposure to hazardous compounds on the battlefield and at. least one soldier passed away after suffocating on tear gas, Pakhomov. said.

In addition to demoralization, the person loses physical. abilities-- he can't see, he can't breathe, whatever is. inflamed, he stated. Yes, it is short-lived, but it is the very. moment the opponent can use to take control of this position or another.

The Ukrainian military is dispersing gas masks and. carrying out drills to prepare soldiers to protect their position. during such attacks. At one drill near Kharkiv, trainers informed. that gas masks assist to safeguard soldiers from almost all. battle toxins but the length of direct exposure might impact their. efficiency.

Russian forces, which have occupied 18% of Ukrainian. area, are advancing gradually but steadily in the east, after. months of fatal combating.

Volodymyr, 37, a physician at a medical stabilization point in. the Donetsk area, stated gas attacks cases have picked up. recently as he was seeing an average of 2 soldiers a week.

They grumble about gas attacks of differing characteristics -. colorless, blue or green - and with a strong chemical odor.

The signs, it looks like irritation ... it's like tear. gas or something like that, he said, unable to identify the. precise compound.

Natalia Khovanets, 53, a head nurse at a Ukrainian army. medical unit in a forested part of the mostly-occupied region of. Luhansk, told they had actually treated soldiers who had been hit. with tear gas grenades dropped by a Russian drone.

( The symptoms we saw were) bitterness in the patients'. mouths, dizziness ... these are mild signs. That indicated we. could handle treating them on our own.

An authorities with the OPCW, which examines declared usage of. chemicals as weapons, informed it had gotten no demand. for an examination or technical help associated with the. declared usage of banned chemicals in the war.

Nevertheless, making use of riot control representatives as weapons by. Russian soldiers was commonly disputed, at the organization's recent. meetings, the authorities stated, speaking on condition of anonymity. due to the sensitivity of the concern.

The task of documenting each case of supposed harmful chemicals. use is up to unique groups within the Ukrainian armed force who. gather proof and polluted ground samples for field labs. before passing them to Ukraine's security services.

Pakhomov stated that the 1,400 taped cases is likely a. significant underestimate since heavy artillery fire and. battling often avoids the groups from checking out trenches,. making paperwork and responsibility harder to attain.

(source: Reuters)