The United Kingdom issued sanctions against Russian units involved in the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, the country's Foreign Office said on Oct. 8.
Russia's Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defence Troops and their chief, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, were among those sanctioned, with two Russian Defense Ministry scientific centers also on the list.
Russia's use of gas attacks is rising, a Kyiv Independent investigation from August showed. In January, 229 cases were recorded compared to 639 in June and 358 in July, according to the Ukrainian military's Support Forces, a branch of the army responsible for inspecting chemical warfare.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has recorded over 4,000 cases of Russian chemical agents used on Ukraine's front line, including over 3,100 reported cases since December 2023.
"The U.K. will not sit idly by whilst (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the U.S. Department of State said in May, asserting that Moscow has violated the Chemical Weapons Convention by deploying riot control agents as a method of warfare.
Asami Terajima
