Russia has been accused of illegally carrying out phosphorus bomb attacks on civilians in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova claimed on Sunday that Moscow used banned phosphorus weapons in an overnight attack on the town of Popasna in the eastern Luhansk region.
He shared a picture to show the alleged assault, but did not provide any further evidence that would confirm it. “The bombing of a civilian city by Russian bombers with these weapons is a war crime and a crime against humanity in accordance with the Rome Convention,” he said in a statement.
Police Chief Oleksiy Biloshitsky in Popasna, about 60 miles west of the city of Luhansk, said late Saturday that the Russian military had used phosphorus shells in the area, but had yet to independently verify the claims.
White phosphorus weapons are not considered chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and their primary purpose is to create thick smoke that can conceal military forces or mark targets. However, the substance burns fiercely and can cause horrific injuries, and international law prohibits the use of white phosphorus shells in heavily populated civilian areas.
On Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Russia could use chemical weapons after its invasion of Ukraine and that such a move would be a war crime.
Mr. Stoltenberg suggested that Russia’s recent “absurd claims about chemical and biological weapons laboratories” in Ukraine may indicate that Vladimir Putin is planning to use them as a pretext for such attacks.
It echoed fears raised by the UK and US this week that the Kremlin could set the stage for using chemical weapons in Ukraine after officials accused, without evidence, that the US was supporting a bio-weapons program in the country. Had been.
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“In recent days, we have heard absurd claims about chemical and biological weapons laboratories,” Stoltenberg told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “Now that these false claims have been made, we must be cautious because it is possible that Russia itself may be planning chemical weapons operations under this bastion of lies. This would be a war crime.”
Britain’s Armed Forces Minister James Happi hit out at the Kremlin for its “outrageous” attempt to blame Ukraine for the use of chemical weapons that Russia itself was actually considering.
Britain’s technology minister Chris Phillip told times radio That the use of chemical weapons “would be an outrage against humanity and trigger a “dramatically heightened backlash” from the West.
A senior government source told I On Friday Britain could impose sanctions in response to any chemical attack.
Western officials said at a briefing this week that they had “good reason to be concerned” about the possible use of non-conventional weapons by Russia, as chemical weapons were allegedly used by the Russian-backed Syrian regime during the country’s civil war. Weapons were used.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Wednesday that “we should all be on the lookout for Russia to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or use them to create a false-flag campaign”. After false propaganda, what he said appeared to be backed by China.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that Russia had evidence that the US supported a bio-weapons program linked to plague, cholera and anthrax in Ukraine. Ms Psaki called the claims “absurd”.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also accused “Ukrainian nationalists” of preparing to “instigate” chemical weapons in a village northwest of Kharkiv in order to falsely accuse the Russian military of using them.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Sunday that Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine would be a “game-changer” and that NATO would have to think seriously about how to respond.
“Certainly, the North Atlantic Alliance led by the United States and its leaders will have to sit at the table and think really seriously about what to do because then it starts to get dangerous,” he told the BBC.
