Kyiv claims Russia used over 6,900 chemical weapons in Ukraine
Russian forces have reportedly deployed over 6,900 chemical munitions since the onset of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Medical assistance has been rendered to almost 3,400 Ukrainian military personnel exhibiting symptoms of unknown chemical poisoning during this extensive conflict.
The alarming figures were disclosed by Colonel Valeriy Weber, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Mine Action, Civil Protection, and Environmental Safety, during a seminar at a command-staff training exercise focused on prosecuting chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) crimes.
Slovakia's city of Žilina hosted the command-staff exercise with the support of the European Commission's Service for Foreign Policy Instruments. The event aimed to bolster capabilities in prosecuting CBRN offenses, enhancing knowledge of international practices, legal tools, and analyzing both national and international legislation governing the prosecution of these crimes. Separately, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) had earlier announced it would in absentia charge a Russian commander suspected of using banned chemical weapons to breach Ukrainian defenses in the Donetsk region. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has, for the first time, confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.