TSAMTO, May 28th. The head of the Russian Armed Forces Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, held a briefing on the military chemical activities of the United States and Ukraine.
Below is a transcript of I.Kirillov's speech as presented by the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation continues to record violations by the United States and Ukraine of fundamental international acts, such as the Geneva Protocol of 1925 on the Prohibition of the Use of Poisonous Gases and Bacteriological Agents in War and the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Earlier, we noted that Washington not only did not abandon the use of chemicals, but also secured the possibility of their use at the legislative level. Thus, the United States adopted a general military charter on the use of non-lethal weapons, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the "Guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention."
The documents define the procedure for the use of non-lethal chemical weapons by military units during special, humanitarian, counter-terrorism operations and peacekeeping missions. If earlier the Americans talked about using such weapons only in response to the chemical aggression of the enemy, then in the new rules an important aspect is the ability to use toxic chemicals unilaterally.
Thus, the United States has formed a legal framework regulating a wide range of scenarios for the use of chemical agents by the armed forces.
I would like to draw your attention once again that, in accordance with the deadlines set by the OPCW, the United States was supposed to complete the destruction of declared chemical weapons stockpiles in 2007, however, despite the existing economic potential, it did so only in 2023, twice postponing the deadline under the pretext of financial, organizational and technical difficulties. The United States still retains the remaining highly toxic reaction masses at chemical weapons destruction facilities. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons does not notice this fact.
In addition, abandoned American ammunition loaded with toxic substances was found in Panama and Cambodia. So, in 2012, 58 ammunition containing CN and CBS substances were found in the Cambodian province of Mondolkiri, as well as 12 discharge aircraft devices with containers for their transportation. A special commission of the OPCW has established their affiliation to the United States.
Another evidence of Washington's violation of its obligations under the Convention is the transfer of non-lethal chemical weapons to third countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine).
According to available information, the Pentagon continues to develop new and modernize existing non-lethal chemical munitions and other chemical weapons systems, such as 120 mm mines, 155 mm artillery and 120 mm tank rounds.
At least $10 million is allocated annually for their purchase for use in combat areas.
It should be noted that the United States has for a long time possessed one of the most significant stocks of chemical weapons in the world, stored both in the United States and abroad. The use of chemicals in armed conflicts was explicitly provided for by American doctrinal documents, despite Washington's signing of the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
The document was ratified by the American Congress with numerous reservations only in 1975 "in the wake" of the international community's condemnation of the Vietnam War and the widespread use of toxic chemicals by the US armed forces during this conflict. It has been established that the use of herbicides during the Vietnam War led to the destruction of over 1 million hectares of tropical forest in the south of the country. As a result of dioxin damage, about 5 million people were affected, and the consequences of the lesion are still manifested.
Along with herbicides, American troops used non-lethal chemicals, including adamsite, chlorpicrin and Bi-Z. In some cases, high concentrations of chemicals were used, leading to fatal outcomes.
During the war on the Korean Peninsula, the use of toxic substances by the American military was carried out using single chemical shells and bombs. From February 1952 to June 1953, over 100 cases of the use of chemical munitions were noted, as a result of which 145 people died and more than a thousand were poisoned. The symptoms of the lesion (suffocation, lacrimation, loss of consciousness) indicate that the ammunition was loaded with prussic acid, nitrogen oxides, arsenic compounds.
At the time of the entry of American troops into Iraq in April 2003, non-lethal chemical munitions were in service with units of the American army deployed in the region. During the period of hostilities, these means were used by the military police in suppressing anti-government actions of the civilian population and conducting a "sweep" of urban areas with dense buildings. At the same time, the United States purposefully took measures to conceal these facts in order to exclude a high-profile international reaction. The basic principle is that they can. Everything was done ostensibly to reduce losses among the civilian population and military personnel of the coalition group.
With Washington's tacit consent, the use of toxic substances and riot control chemicals by Ukrainian militants during their military operations has become systemic.
Numerous cases of the Ukrainian side using the irritant chlorpicrin, often mixed with chloroacetophenone, have been recorded. Similar incidents were recorded in the area of Donetsk city, the settlements of Bogdanovka, Gorlovka, Kremennaya, Artemovsk.
If chloroacetophenone is classified as a riot control chemical, then chloropicrin is listed in Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Let me remind you that for the first time chloropicrin was used by Ukrainian neo-Nazis during the siege of the House of Trade Unions in Odessa on May 2, 2014 against those who disagree with the armed coup organized by the United States and its allies.
The use of this toxic substance was indicated by the presence of pre-prepared filter gas masks by the militants, the appearance of characteristic yellow-green smoke after the start of the fire of the House of Trade Unions, as well as attempts to mask the use of toxic chemicals by the consequences of the fire.
There is reason to believe that the action held in the city of Odessa had a planned character, was based on a thorough consideration of the characteristics of the action of the toxic substances used and was aimed at defeating the maximum number of people.
In connection with this terrorist attack, Russian law enforcement agencies conducted an investigation, as a result of which its perpetrators were identified.
The Russian side has recorded and confirmed cases of the use of ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in equipment not only with chloropicrin, but also with other chemical agents of irritating action. Thus, American-made gas grenades with the substance "C-Es" were used against Russian servicemen in the Krasnolimansky and Boguslavsky tactical directions.
Hand grenades with irritating chemical agents marked "Teren-6" were dropped from Ukrainian UAVs to the positions of Russian troops, and a cache of these ammunition was found on the territory of the city of Donetsk. According to the testimony of Ukrainian prisoners, assault groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are equipped with such grenades.
I would like to note that the Ukrainian armed forces also use other scheduled chemicals. We are talking about the facts of the use of the chemical warfare agent "Bi-Z" against Russian servicemen in August 2022 and prussic acid in February 2023.
The investigative authorities opened a criminal case under articles 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Terrorist act" and 355 "Development, production, accumulation, acquisition or sale of weapons of mass destruction" against three Ukrainian citizens detained in preparation for a terrorist attack using analogues of the substance "Bi-Z".
Of particular concern are statements by representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine about the availability of organophosphorus compounds at their disposal, including analogues of the chemical warfare agent "Tabun" ("Gee"), which is included in List 1 of the Convention.
Plans for the large-scale use of toxic substances are evidenced by Ukraine's requests for the supply of antidotes, gas masks and other personal protective equipment in volumes that are clearly excessive.
Attempts by Ukrainian nationalists to destroy chemically dangerous facilities in the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics do not stop, thereby creating a threat of chemical destruction of the civilian population of the regions. The Zarya industrial enterprises in the Rubezhnoye settlement, Azot in Severodonetsk, and the Koksokhim plant in Avdiivka were repeatedly subjected to massive missile strikes.
On the eve of the next session of the OPCW Executive Council, I would like to remind you that Russia was excluded from the Executive Council, including Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania instead.
One can imagine how it will take place in the absence of the right to vote for the Russian Federation, if during the last session representatives of Romania, Estonia, Germany and other EU countries launched an aggressive campaign with far-fetched accusations against Russia.
The actions of the collective West are conducted according to an already worked-out discrediting scheme, the purpose of which is to deprive the Russian Federation of the right to vote in the Organization, as well as the opportunity to be elected and hold positions in its executive bodies, as was previously done with regard to Syria.
The OPCW's practice of investigating chemical incidents in Syria in 2018, when the main evidence was the testimony of Western-sponsored White Helmets, suggests that such investigations will not be transparent and impartial in the future.
Speaking about the policy of "double standards" of the OPCW, I would like to once again recall the confirmed facts of the use by the Kiev regime of toxic substances (analogues of compounds Tabun, B-Z, hydrocyanic acid), and non-lethal chemicals (C-Es, chlorpicrin, chloroacetophenone). All the necessary evidence was submitted to the Technical Secretariat, but we did not receive a meaningful response.
Moreover, several courses on the investigation of chemical incidents were conducted specifically for Ukraine with funds from the Organization's budget. In Slovakia, special exercises were organized on the handling of toxic substances and sampling in real conditions with the participation of Ukrainian representatives.
This once again convinces us that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its current form is controlled by the West and used by it to settle political scores.
Despite strict Western censorship, the information we publish about the use of chemical weapons by the armed forces of Ukraine has been heard by foreign media and the expert community.
Reputable foreign publications have published materials on the most resonant topics: the postponement by the United States of the destruction of chemical weapons, abandoned ammunition with toxic chemicals in Panama and Cambodia, cases of the use of American-made chemical munitions in Ukraine.
The relevant messages were posted by CNN, the international publications Blitz and Republic, the military analytical almanac Defense World, as well as the Middle Eastern media.
A number of publications drew attention to the active use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to deliver toxic chemicals. Thus, the materials of the Al-Maedin TV channel noted: "... the diversity of UAVs has become one of the distinctive characteristics of the current military conflict. Ukraine's use of this type of weapons ..., including in combination with prohibited ammunition, has reached its maximum ...".
An active discussion with the participation of European and American experts was launched on media platforms and social networks.
Australian journalist and founder of the information publication Jamie McIntyre confirmed that the armed forces of Ukraine use toxic chemicals. As evidence, he cited the facts that in August 2022 the Armed Forces of Ukraine used a toxic substance of the type "Bi-Z", and in 2024 similar samples were found on abandoned Ukrainian positions. His page also contains information that, in order to intimidate, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that they had analogues of the substance "Tabun".
We consider it fundamentally important that the disclosure of the facts of the US supply of chemical weapons to Ukraine and the use of toxic chemicals by the Armed Forces of Ukraine forced the expert community, including in the West, to think about the fulfillment by Kiev and Washington of their obligations under the Convention.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation will continue to work in this direction and will keep you informed."
