While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski has expressed his concern about the possibility of Russia using chemical weapons, there has been news recently that these weapons have already been used in besieged Mariupol.
The manufacture, use and stockpiling of chemical weapons is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Only Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have not signed or ratified the international arms control treaty. Israel signed but did not ratify.
The convention is overseen by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, which can detect the use of toxic chemicals and identify perpetrators in Syria since mid-2018.
According to the agreement, the use of the most dangerous toxins and their precursors is prohibited. These include the nerve agents sarin, VX, and the Soviet-era Novichok, as well as the poisonous ricin and skin-burning sulfur mustard substance.
OPCW defines chemical weapons as “any chemical that can cause death, temporary or permanent damage by chemical action on life processes” due to its toxic properties. A chemical such as chlorine can become a chemical weapon if used in a conflict.
Despite being condemned by human rights groups, white phosphorus is not banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Cluster munitions, which fall under a separate international agreement, are also not on the list.
WHERE HAS IT BEEN USED IN THE PAST?
Mustard gas was first used on a large scale during the First World War. At that time, approximately 90 thousand people died in Ypres, Belgium, who were exposed to chemical weapons.
During the Iran-Iraq war, in March 1988, a large-scale chemical attack on Halabja killed thousands of Kurds, mostly women and children.
A cult in Japan threw sarin gas into the Tokyo subway in 1995, killing 13 people and making thousands more sick.
Sarin and chlorine barrel bombs, which were rarely used for many years, were systematically used on the battlefields during the civil war in Syria, resulting in the death or injury of thousands of people. The use of chlorine barrel bombs was confirmed in 20 of the approximately 150 cases under investigation by the OPCW.
Russian-backed Syrian forces, and to a lesser extent ISIS fighters, have been found to have used chemical weapons during the decade-long war.
Russia and Syria deny using chemical weapons and blame rebel groups and political opponents, or say these “fake attacks” were deliberately fabricated.
The biggest attack in Syria, which Western countries have widely blamed on Syrian government forces, was in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August 2013, where the use of sarin gas resulted in hundreds of deaths.
OPCW countries accuse Russia of using the nerve agent Novichok in two incidents. The first of these was directed at former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in March 2018, and the second was directed at Alexei Navalny, who criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin in Siberia in August 2020.
In April 2021, OPCW member states stripped Syria of its voting rights after it was determined that their military forces had repeatedly used poison gas during the civil war.
THE FINAL SITUATION IN THE WAR OF UKRAINE
The Kyiv government said in a statement that it had checked the accuracy of reports that Russian forces used chemical weapons in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Ukraine has previously expressed fears that, like the United States, Russian forces might use banned chemicals. Ukraine and the United States failed to provide evidence for these concerns.
Russia has officially destroyed tons of chemical weapons it declared to the OPCW. However, Moscow is at odds with Western countries over chemical weapons attacks on Skripal and Navalny.
In October, 45 OPCW members urged Russia to clarify its alleged involvement in Navalny’s poisoning. Moscow denies the claim.
Developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, Novichok is on the OPCW’s list of planned chemicals and has been banned since July 2020.
Both Russia and Ukraine are members of the OPCW, where countries are politically divided over the Syrian war. Moscow is trying to limit the organization’s authority to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks, both in The Hague and at the United Nations.
The United States has donated $250,000 to the OPCW for its efforts to supply Ukraine with supplies and equipment in case Russia uses chemical weapons.