Russia once again uses chemical weapons in Donetsk region

Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, a spokesman for the joint press center of the Tauride Defense Forces, shared the information during the United News telethon on Tuesday, April 4.

According to him, the incident occurred in Yasynuvata district, Donetsk region.

"A munition with a chemical substance was recorded being dropped from a UAV in the area of Vodyane. Most likely, it is a K-51 munition with chloropicrin," said the speaker.

According to Dmytrashkivskyi, this is not the first time the Russian army has dropped this munition from unmanned aerial vehicles.

"Last week, Russians used it on an increasing basis: two, four, six times. This week is the first recorded case of a munition being dropped from a UAV. As a result, the military is temporarily unable to conduct combat operations," said Dmytrashkivskyi.

Reference. The use of chemical weapons against enemy forces is prohibited by the Hague Convention (Article 23). 

K-51 is a non-lethal hand-held aerosol grenade with tear gas. It was developed in the late 1970s in the USSR. An enemy caught in the aerosol cloud without a gas mask cannot resist or fire. The victim’s respiratory tract is pierced by shortness of breath and coughing, mucus fills the sinuses.

• Russian troops in the Donetsk sector have resorted to using chemical munitions against the Ukrainian military. 

• The US believes that Russia, in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention, continues to develop a program to create these types of weapons.