MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military used Western chemical weapons under the guise of smoke shells in Sudzha in the borderline Kursk area in August this year, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said on Monday.

"In August 2024, facts were revealed that the Kiev regime covertly used chemical weapons under the guise of smoke shells. In particular, Ukrainian armed gangs used 155mm DM105 cluster munitions in the city of Sudzha in the Kursk Region on August 11, as a result of which more than 20 people suffered," the defense official said.

"The analysis of the selected samples held at the laboratory of the Russian Defense Ministry’s 27th Scientific Center accredited by the OPCW showed that the personnel were affected by a large amount of inhaled chlorine aerosol and suffocating agents. Meanwhile, the metal chloride mixture was just a means of disguise," he said.

These munitions in the amount of 3,800 shells were supplied to Ukraine in September 2023 under a military assistance package, Kirillov pointed out.

The study of the toxicity of metal chloride mixture from munitions of this type carried out at the US-made Fort Detrick military laboratory revealed that its combustion products have a strong irritant effect on the upper respiratory tract and can cause severe poisoning, the defense official said.

"This served as the ground for banning the production and use of such shells in the United States," Kirillov said.