Official: Russia launches 5 attacks with chemical weapons on southeastern front lines in past day

Russian forces launched five attacks with munitions containing poisonous chemicals against Ukrainian soldiers on the southeastern front lines in the past day, Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the Tavria group of forces, said on Jan. 30.

Russia has recently increased its use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, with 81 cases documented only in December, according to the Ukrainian military. The 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in war.

The munitions used by Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine on Jan. 29 were likely K-51 grenades with chloropicrin, according to Shtupun.

"But each such case is investigated separately. Appropriate analyses are made, and then the results are submitted to international institutions," Shtupun said on national television.

Soldiers can protect from the affect of chloropicrin using gas masks, he added.

Ukraine recorded over 400 cases of Russia's use of munitions containing poisonous chemicals from February 2022 to December 2023, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 27.

Most often, Russia's military reportedly uses grenades, such as K-51, RGR, and Drofa-PM, dropping them from attack drones.