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Nationalists plotting chemical attacks in Ukraine when Russian troops approach

Russia warns the entire civilized world and international organizations about the Ukrainian authorities’ provocations, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center said
Russian National Defense Command Center's Chief Mikhail Mizintsev Olga Balashova/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS
Russian National Defense Command Center's Chief Mikhail Mizintsev
© Olga Balashova/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Nationalists are planning chemical attack in several Ukrainian regions in case Russian troops enter these territories, Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Saturday.

"Nationalists have placed mines in ammonia and chlorine storage facilities at the Sumykhimprom chemical plant in Sumy in order to poison the Sumy region residents in case Russian troops enter the city," he said. "In the settlement of Kotlyarovo, Nikolayev region, militants of nationalist units are plotting a provocation with the use of toxic chemicals. For these ends, they have placed containers with toxic chemicals in the building of a secondary school, which will be exploded when Russian forces approach the settlement."

"We warn the entire civilized world and international organizations about the Ukrainian authorities’ cynical provocations, which, if realized, will be blamed on Russian troops as it has been done more than once," he stressed, adding that it is being done with the support from the United States and a number of countries of the European Union, which consider Ukraine as an instrument of anti-Russian policies.

He also told about several violations reported by Russia’s humanitarian response coordination headquarters in Ukraine. Thus, in his words, radicals from territorial defense battalions extort money from civilians at checkpoints along the motorway linking Chernigov and Kiev under the pretext of raising funds for the Ukrainian army. "The fees for those trying to flee to Russia are twice as high. The most cynical thing is that if people lack enough money, radicals seize their cars and send the people back by foot," he added.