The enemy is systematically using hazardous chemicals on the battlefields of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on this.

It is reported that over the past month, mobile teams of support forces and other units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces recorded 371 cases of hazardous chemical use by the enemy, which is 90 cases more than in the previous period.

These munitions containing hazardous chemicals— mostly K-51 special gas grenades and RG-Vo special gas grenades—are delivered by drones.

In total, between February 2023 and March 2024, the Ukrainian Defense Forces recorded 1,412 cases of the use of hazardous chemical weapons by the Russian Federation.

The Russian troops continue to use such munitions violating the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, as well as the laws and customs of war.

The General Staff notes that such actions of the Russian Federation are becoming systemic, and the trend of their use is only growing.

K-51

K-51 is a special gas grenade with a solid plastic body and a metal bottom. It was developed in the late 1970s in the Soviet Union. The sealed body of the grenade is filled with a powdered, highly irritating substance of non-lethal action, Chloropicrin.

The effect of K-51 compared to grenades to disperse demonstrators is several times higher, since it was created for military and special services.

The substance inside a grenade irritates the mucous membranes. This leads to suffocation with a cough and disorientation due to the victim’s eye irritation.

Last month, Militarnyi also reported that the invaders began to use gas grenades against Ukrainian defenders with a prohibited substance, according to the Geneva Convention.

The chemical munition of the new sample is distinguished by its design and filling; it uses a chemical agent with an irritant effect, Phenacyl Chloride.

This substance is prohibited for use as a chemical warfare agent following the Geneva Protocol, approved by the UN General Assembly in 1969 based on its use during the Vietnam War.