Russian troops start using new poisonous grenades on front line

Russian forces started to use chemical weapons more frequently, including a new type of grenade with poisonous substances, says Captain Andrii Rudyk from the Centre for the Research of Trophy. 

Rudyk said that in December 2023, Russian forces were observed using grenades containing poisonous substances a total of 81 times.

"In December, the use of the RG-VO grenade was recorded for the first time. This grenade contains chloroacetophenone, an asphyxiating substance prohibited by the Geneva Protocol on the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases in Warfare," Rudyk said.

The Center suggests that if it hits a room or a dugout, five minutes is enough to kill people in the hideout.

The tested sample was manufactured in 2023 at a factory that has been operating since the Soviet Union.

"Thus, in 2017, Russia lied about fulfilling its obligations under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. According to the Convention, it was supposed to destroy the weapons themselves and the production facilities where they were manufactured."

Russia is now trying to study the reaction of the international community in order to expand the range of chemical weapons use in the future.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, there have been 626 cases of chemical attacks against Ukrainian troops.

The military repelling Russian advance in the Zaporizhzhia region has faced a new threat in the face of poison gas as a weapon.

A Ukrainian intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity that Russian troops are using a type of tear gas used during mass riots that can temporarily disable a person due to irritation of the eyes, nose, lungs, and skin.