Russian troops intensify use of poison-infused ammunition – Ukraine’s armed forces

The Russian enemy army began to use ammunition with a poisonous substance more actively.

Dmytro Lykhoviy, head of the public relations department of the operational and strategic grouping of troops "Tavria," reported this on the air on the nationwide telethon "Yedyni novyny."

"Unfortunately, the Russians are increasingly actively using ammunition with a poisonous substance. In a week, they dropped grenades with a poisonous substance of suffocating and tear gas action from drones about 50 times, and 15 such ammunition drops were recorded in the past day alone," Lykhoviy noted.

According to him, almost all of these applications were in the defense lane on the Zaporizhzhia front.

"This is when the Russian enemy cannot take our trenches with a classic artillery strike or drones, then it uses such tear gas," Lykhoviy explained.

The spokesman noted that almost 2/3 of the fighting on the front occurred on the Tavria front.

Over the past 24 hours, Lykhoviy reported, 54 combat engagements were recorded along the entire line of the Tavria operational-strategic grouping of troops – this is a little more than 2/3 of the battles along the whole front line.

"Unfortunately, these enemy assaults are not conducted just for the tick. The enemy is increasing the number of shelling and assault actions. On the Novopavlivka front, 30 enemy attacks were repelled per day; in Avdiivka – 16 attacks, and on the Orikhiv front, 8 such enemy attacks were repelled," he said.

According to Lykhoviy, here the enemy uses a complex approach to offensive actions:

"They use both armored vehicles and small assault groups; ATVs and aviation are used."

Lykhoviy pointed out that there has been a decrease in enemy airstrikes in the past day, with only 27 launched, compared to 2-2.5 times more a month ago. He mentioned that these are still powerful guided aerial bombs.

At the same time, the Defense Forces inflict significant losses on the enemy. As noted by the head of the public relations department of the operational and strategic grouping of troops "Tavria," during the past day, the losses of the enemy on the Tavria front amounted to:

• 310 people,
• Sixty-five units of weapons and equipment (12 tanks, 17 armored vehicles, five artillery systems, one anti-tank missile complex, 28 vehicles, 1 unit of special equipment, and neutralized or shot down 312 drones).

In addition, the Defense Forces destroyed four ammunition depots and one enemy dugout.

In the list of destroyed equipment, there are:

• one self-propelled anti-aircraft missile complex "Pantsir,"
• one self-propelled artillery installation, "Hyacinth."

For reference:

As Rubryka reported, Russia has carried out 1,068 chemical attacks in Ukraine since the beginning of the large-scale war.

Only in February 2024, 250 cases were recorded:

• 244 instances of VOG grenades use,
• one case of gas application,
• five cases of using other ammunition with a chemical substance.

As part of an ongoing criminal investigation, documented instances of the use of hazardous chemicals are submitted to investigative agencies for further examination.

As previously reported, at the front, the Russian army began to use chemical weapons more often, in particular, a new type of grenade with poisonous substances.

"In December, the use of the RG-Vo grenade was recorded for the first time. This grenade contains chloroacetophenone, a substance with an asphyxiating effect, prohibited by the Geneva Protocol on the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Similar Gases in War," said Captain Andrii Rudyk, a representative of the Research Center for Trophy and Prospective Weapons and Military Equipment.

In the Center for Research of Trophy and Prospective Armaments and Military Equipment, it is assumed that in the case of entering a room or a dugout, five minutes is enough to kill people there.

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

He suggests that Russia is currently trying to study the reaction of the world community in order later to expand the nomenclature of the use of chemical weapons.

It is worth noting that only in December 2023, 81 such cases of the use of gas grenades were recorded.

Moreover, the Ukrainian military, repelling Russian aggression in the Zaporizhzhia region, faced a new threat – the use of poison gas as a weapon by the occupiers.

A Ukrainian intelligence official said on condition of anonymity that the Russians use a type of CS – tear gas, which is used during mass riots and can temporarily incapacitate a person by irritating the eyes, nose, lungs, and skin.

It is noted that the UN Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons prohibits the use of means of combating mass unrest during war.