DISINFO: Ukraine prepares chemical weapons provocation to accuse Russia in OPCW
SUMMARY
Ukraine is preparing a provocation to accuse Russia of using toxic substances during its special military operation in Ukraine. Kyiv will hand over "evidence" of Russia's use of toxic substances to representatives of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for a supposedly "independent" report. The materials of fabricated evidence will be used at the the 107th session of the Executive Council of the OPCW. Kyiv intends to seek the deprivation of Russian representatives of their posts in the OPCW Technical Secretariat in case of success.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about false flag operations and chemical weapons. Russian authorities accusing Ukraine of preparing false flag actions without presenting any proof has been a constant throughout the war, including claims about dirty bombs, nuclear provocations, bioweapons, toxic substances and staged atrocities. These preemptive claims are launched as a mean to make denials of actual Russian atrocities more credible.
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. This disinformation story appears 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.
Russian forces have been credibly accused of using chemical agents in the frontline. In December 2023, members of the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade boasted about their use of drones to drop CWC-banned riot control grenades on Ukrainian troops. The brigade subsequently edited the post, likely realising it had just implicated itself in a war crime. Between February 2022 and January 2024, the Ukrainian military recorded 626 instances of chemical weapons use by the Russian side. In May 2024, the US Department of State accused Russia of using the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops, and brought sanctions against a number of Russian agencies and individuals in response.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the West is preparing a provocation to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons, that OPCW has a policy of throwing baseless accusations, that OPCW suppressed key evidence in Douma chemical attack probe, or that Ukraine is plotting chemical weapons provocation amid battlefield failures.