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DISINFO: Russia has destroyed its chemical arsenal… the US has not

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

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Chemical weapons/attack novichok OPCW

DISINFO: Russia has destroyed its chemical arsenal… the US has not

SUMMARY

Russia .. destroyed all its stockpiles of these (chemical) weapons, and this is documented by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Conversely, the United States is the only country in the world that has not done so and has not destroyed a large arsenal of chemical weapons.

RESPONSE

Recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative that Russia shut down all its chemical weapons programmes while trying to make it seem as if the US is not committed to destroying its own stockpile.

In September 2017, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did in fact confirm the destruction of the 39,967 tonnes of chemical weapons possessed by Russia, but Novichoks were never declared to the OPCW and were not included in the Chemical Weapons Convention until 2019.

According to a UK intelligence assessment, based on open-source analysis and intelligence information, over the past decade, Russia has produced and stockpiled Novichok agents. Bellingcat also published an investigation concerning this matter.

As of May 2021, the US has destroyed 96.52% of its Category 1 chemical weapons stockpile and all of its Category 2 and Category 3 chemical weapons, in a process that started in June 2019, and it is scheduled to be eliminated by Dec. 31, 2023, after the construction of the necessary destruction facilities.

Read similar cases in our database claiming that the West fabricated the Navalny poisoning story; or that Russia is ready to investigate the alleged use of Novichok; or that Russia destroyed its Novichok stockpile, but the US continues to produce it, or even that OPCW reports are made from information provided by terrorists.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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