THE HAGUE: Dutch intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, the defence minister and chief of military intelligence in the Netherlands told Reuters.
Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
“The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons,” he said in an interview.
“This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia’s use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread.”
The Dutch intelligence findings on alleged Russian use of chloropicrin, a banned warfare agent first used by Germany during World War I, have not previously been reported.
The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed “our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations.”
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the use of banned chemical substances by either side in the Ukraine war.
The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents, in May last year.
Ukraine alleges thousands of instances of Russian chemical weapons use.
Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Russia has denied using illegal munitions and it has accused Ukraine of doing so.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the Federal Security Service discovered a Ukrainian cache of explosive devices in the east of the country containing chloropicrin.
Ukraine has consistently denied such accusations.
