4 days Ago
The intelligence services say the use of chemical agents on the battlefield has been "normalised and routine". Of particular concern is chloropicrin, which can be a lethal irritant in confined spaces and is categorically banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The threat is likely to continue, the agencies warned, as Russia continues to invest in its chemical weapons program and is actively recruiting scientists.
Strategy and Effects on Ukrainian Forces
The chemical weapons are said to be a battlefield tactic to drive Ukrainian forces out of protective shelters. "At least three deaths have been directly associated with chemical exposure," according to the report. But far more other dead are indirectly incurred when soldiers are flushed out in the open and assaulted with conventional weapons.
'Toxic weapons are increasingly used as a casual weapon on the battlefield,' Vice Admiral Peter Reesink, head of the MIVD, said. "Russia is adding these types of weapons with greater alacrity, [which] increases the threat level from its chemical weapons program," he added.
Defence Minister: Soaring Usage Should Not Be Made the Norm
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans condemned the moves, saying that Russia's systematic use of chemical weapons is "completely unacceptable." In a letter to parliament, he cautioned against normalising such behaviour, saying: "If the threshold for using these weapons is lowered, it does not just put at risk Ukraine, but all of Europe and the world.
The intelligence services and the Minister emphasised that the increasing use of chemical weapons must be a jolt to the international community, and those attacks should be confronted with a resounding no.
