Russian troops attack town in Zaporizhzhia region with banned chemical weapon – commander of Tavria Forces Group

Russian forces used banned chemical weapons against civilians in the town of Novodanylivka in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region, says Commander of the Tavria forces Oleksandr Tarnavsky.

Ukrainian command center notes that Russian troops violated the war principles again, carrying out two artillery attacks with the long-range missile systems containing a chemical substance (presumably chloropicrin).

The town of Novodarivka is located near the frontline Orikhiv, which has been shelled with various Russian munitions since the full-scale war's outset in 2022.

No casualties have been recorded during the deadly attack, the commander stressed.

Previously, Russian forces dropped a banned K-51 aerosol-suffocating chemical munition on one of the Ukrainian positions on the southeastern front.

Russia is actively using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut direction. Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, the press serviceman of the Territorial Defense Forces Command, said the enemy forces used the chemical element lewisite.

According to Ukraine's intelligence, Russian occupiers could have used chemical weapons in the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region.

To disrupt the counteroffensive, Russian forces planned to spread the banned weapons all over the frontline. At the same time, the real victims of chemical weapons would be soldiers of the occupation army, as Russia plans to use the traces of damage on their bodies as fake accusations against Ukraine.

Except for the damage to civilians such weapons cause, they pollute Ukrainian soil and crops, which we explain in our article-explainer.