DISINFO: Ukrainian troops used chemical weapons in Kypuche and Soledar
SUMMARY
Trying to change the balance of power on the line of contact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to use prohibited methods of warfare. The representative of the leadership of the DNR announced the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian troops in the Kypuche and Soledar directions.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation claim about the alleged use of chemical weapons by Ukraine, which is not backed by any evidence. Such claims are a part of a broader pro-Kremlin information manipulation campaign supporting the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and trying to place the blame for the war’s atrocities on Ukraine, as our recent analysis explains.
There is no evidence to back the claim that Ukraine may have used chemical weapons during the war, which was started by Russia. In fact, this is an attempt to deflect responsibility away from Russia's own actions, with many Western leaders having real concerns that Russia could use chemical weapons.
Both sides use drones to drop grenades and small-scale bombs. Ukrainian munitions are not fitted with toxins or other types of chemical weapons.
Moscow has a history of falsely accusing its opponents of staging "provocations" which either never happened at all, or were subsequently carried out by themselves or their allies.
Read similar disinformation cases, such as claims that Ukraine used chemical weapons near Soledar and Bakhmut, that Kyiv passed from rejecting nuclear weapons to preparing a dirty bomb, that Americans inject Ukrainian soldiers with drugs and viruses for biological research, that Ukraine turns nuclear power plants into military facilities, that US contractors help prepare chemical provocations in Ukraine, or that Ukraine aims to use Turkish Bayraktars for chemical attacks.