MOSCOW, February 19. TASS/. The United States maintains an interest in using riot-control chemical agents, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Protection Troops, said.

"Washington retains a significant interest in the use of riot-control chemical agents as a tool for conducting military operations. In 2007, the US adopted a general military charter on the use of non-lethal weapons, and in 2015, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved 'The Guidance for Implementing the Provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention,'" he said.

According to him, these documents define the procedure for the use of non-lethal chemical weapons by military units during special, humanitarian, anti-terrorist and peacekeeping operations. If earlier the Americans spoke about the use of such weapons only in response to chemical aggression of the enemy, in the new rules an important aspect is the possibility of unilateral use of toxic chemicals.

"In 2021, after testing in Afghanistan, the US Army began shipping V-KS air rifles with chemical ammunition loaded with capsaicin. The ammunition is fired from a distance of up to 50 meters. The use of 120-mm mines, 155-mm artillery and 120-mm tank rounds is envisaged to engage the enemy at longer range. It is hard to imagine that such ammunition is needed to disperse demonstrations or for other peaceful purposes," Kirillov added.