Russian gas attacks escalate in Ukraine, demand UK aid
Russian armed forces are increasingly using chemical gas as a means to break through Ukrainian defensive lines. In some instances, Ukrainian units are exposed to gas attacks up to two or three times a day, significantly hindering their effective defense and forcing them to constantly abandon positions to save lives.
Chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a retired British colonel, notes that since January 2024 the number of gas attacks in Donbas has drastically increased. According to interia.pl, since February 2022 the Ukrainian army has reported around 600 such cases, but within just nine months this year that number has risen to around 4,000.
In the British newspaper "The Telegraph," De Bretton-Gordon recalled that chemical gas broke the deadlock of trench warfare in April 1915, when Germans used chlorine against unprepared Allied troops. The expert points out that a similar tactic is currently being used in Ukraine.
He also highlights the fact that some Ukrainian units are subjected to gas attacks up to two or three times a day, most commonly using CS gas or chloropicrin. Both of these substances are illegal according to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, to which both Russia and Ukraine are signatories.
Russia increasingly uses chemical gases
Drones drop gas canisters into trenches, causing soldiers to experience suffocation and vomiting, forcing them to leave their shelters. As they leave their positions, reconnaissance drones precisely direct artillery fire on them.
The expert emphasises that assistance from the UK and the UN is essential in this situation. In particular, London should supply Ukraine with modern gas masks since British companies are leaders in their production, meeting the needs of entities such as the US Department of Defense, the British Ministry of Defence, and most NATO countries.
Bretton-Gordon stresses that approval for such assistance should be easier and faster than procedures related to the provision of lethal weapons, which President Zelensky is seeking. "We cannot waste time" – the expert appeals.
