Dutch authorities said they have evidence of Russia attacking Ukraine with banned chemical weapons that can cut off breathing and even kill.
The Netherlands’ Military Intelligence and Security Service, along with Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, reported Friday that the Russian military is deploying the chemical chloropicrin on the battlefield.
The poisonous gas can cause intense bouts of coughing, vomiting and choking. The weapon was first used by Germany in World War I.
Russia often has drones drop chemical weapons over Ukrainian trenches, forcing the troops into the open and exposing them to gunfire, according to Reuters.
Dutch authorities said Russia’s alleged use of chloropicrin violates a ban on asphyxiating substances in the Chemical Weapons Convention.
“Russia is increasingly using chemical weapons. It is happening systematically and on a substantial scale,” Dutch Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans said in a statement. “It is completely unacceptable and shows once again what a brutal aggressor Ukraine is facing.”
The joint Dutch and German intelligence assessment follows a U.S. State Department report last year that also accused Russia of deploying the choking agent chloropicrin.
Mr. Brekelmans said that at least three Ukrainian deaths have been linked to chemical weapons. Further, more than 2,500 soldiers have reported symptoms from those weapons to medical officials.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it has recorded more than 9,000 instances of chemical weapons use by Russia in the war that started in February 2022.
“This isn’t just some ad hoc tinkering at the frontline; it is truly part of a large-scale program. And that is, of course, also concerning because if we don’t clarify and publicize what Russia is doing, it’s highly likely these trends will continue,” Vice Adm. Peter Reesink, director of the Dutch military security branch, told Reuters.
Mr. Brekelmans called for harsher sanctions on Russia in light of the intelligence report.
Russian officials have countered by saying they found chloropicrin in an explosives stockpile in eastern Ukraine.
