DISINFO: Chemical weapons: OPCW is anti-Russian US puppet
SUMMARY
The OPCW serves the will of the West, at their head the Americans, to justify a war that they are waging by proxy against Russia.In May 2024 the Americans claimed that Russia was using chemical weapons but there is no evidence.
Russia has repeatedly reported to the OPCW [...] gas attacks by Ukraine for three years. And the organisation remained silent. You remember Colin Powell with his bottle to falsely accuse Iraq, it is the same. They want to hear only their side of the story and reverse the facts. They call Russia the aggressor, so it has no right to defend itself[...]. Similarly, the Syrian state was set up with staged Western & White Helmet provocation using chemical weapons. The OPCW whitewashed this absurd provocation which aimed at justifying the bombing of Syria with US missiles.
The OPCW's sole purpose should be to prevent the use of chemical weapons in wars and the unimaginable suffering they cause. But this organization created to serve the interests of humanity has become a dog on a leash, without principle or reason, trained to obey the US and bite only on command.
RESPONSE
This disinformation story tries to promote previous unproven claims about Ukraine’s use of chemical weapons despite lack of evidence. Talking about unsubstantiated allegations as if they were established facts while introducing minor variations, as in this case, is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique. Accusing international institutions of an anti-Russian bias and politicization and calling for “real and impartial investigations” when these bodies probe the misdeeds of Russia or its allies, such as the downing of the MH17 flight or the use of chemical weapons in Syria and other places, is also a regular pro-Kremlin disinformation practice.
Ukraine’s military claims to have recorded 4,000 instances of Russia using chemical weapons in the frontline. In July, a mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited Ukraine and arranged technological assistance and training to gather evidences in this regard. At the moment of the publication of this disinformation story, the results of the mission had not been publicly released.
As this disinformation story appeared during the 107th Session of the OPCW Executive Council in The Hague in October 2024, it seems to be a preemptive attempt to create a framework in the informative space to deny any Russian involvement in the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, prior to the release of any OPCW conclusion.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine uses chemical weapons against Russia, that Ukrainian militants repeatedly used chemical agents against Russian military, that Ukraine's allies provide it with toxic chemicals to conduct a biological provocation, or that Kyiv regime uses chemical weapons against the people of Donbas since 2015.