Ukraine accuses Russia of increased gas attacks on the front

Several media, including SVT Nyheter, have previously written about the information about gas attacks in Ukraine, which are prohibited by international agreements.

According to the Ukrainian military, mainly grenades loaded with tear gas-like substances are used, so-called K-51 grenades, but also other variants.

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  • – Almost every position on our front section has had one or two gas shells dropped on them every day, a Ukrainian officer at Tjasiv Jar told The Telegraphwho spoke to several soldiers who testify to the same thing.

    “Gas masks have saved more than one life,” says another soldier.

    Last November, Ukrainian authorities displayed what they said was a Russian K-51 grenade in the Donetsk region. Photo: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

    Get photo evidence: “No one believed us”

    Images purported to show Russian gas attacks have been circulated on social media as well as on Russian and Ukrainian news sites. They are very difficult to verify.

    The Telegraph has, however, obtained through agents what is said to be a Russian gas grenade that was used against soldiers in Ukraine’s 53rd mechanized brigade.

    Experts have been able to verify that it is a K-51 grenade, but not that it is Russian.

    – My guys picked it up under fire because no one believed they were being attacked with chemical weapons, says Rebekah Maciorowski, an American military medic who acted as an intermediary for the newspaper.

    Russia denies

    Russia, via its embassy in the Netherlands, has denied the accusations. The country in turn accused Ukraine in February of using gas in combat but without presenting any evidence.

    February 16 this year submitted Ukraine a compilation of 815 cases where Russian forces are said to have used toxic chemicals, including tear gas, to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The cases were then stated to be under investigation nationally.

    A representative of the OPCW told Reuters that it had not received any request for investigative assistance from either Russia or Ukraine. The source states, however, that the information about Russian gas grenades is discussed within the business.

    SVT Nyheter has applied to the OPCW.

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