Kills in five minutes: Russia begins using new grenades with poisonous substances
As of January 2024, 626 attacks using chemical substances have been recorded since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, as stated by Captain Andriy Rudyk, a representative of the Center for the Research of Trophy and Prospective Weapons and Military Equipment.
The first instances of new Russian grenades with poisonous substances were recorded in December 2023. Rudyk discussed this at the briefing "RG-VO Grenade – Undeniable Proof of the Use of Chemical Weapons by the Russian Armed Forces Against Ukraine," which took place at the Military Media Center.
Rudyk said that as of January 2024, since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, 626 attacks with the use of chemical substances have been recorded. The occupiers used K-51 and RGR irritant grenades until December 2023.
In December 2023, 81 instances of the use of Russian grenades with poisonous substances were recorded, which at that time accounted for 17% of the total number since the start of the Russian invasion.
"In December, the use of the RG-Vo grenade was recorded for the first time. This grenade contains chloroacetophenone – a choking substance, prohibited by the Geneva Protocol on the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other similar gases," he emphasized.
The Center for the Research of Trophy and Prospective Weapons and Military Equipment assumes that if it lands in a building or a bunker, it would take only five minutes and 70 drops of this gas to kill the people inside.
The specimen examined by the Center was manufactured in 2023 at a factory that has been operational since the Soviet era.
"Thus, in 2017, Russia lied about fulfilling its obligations under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, according to which, it was supposed to destroy both the weapons and the production facilities where they were manufactured," Rudyk said.
The Center suggests that Russia is currently trying to gauge the world community's reaction to later expand the range of chemical weapons usage.
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