THE HAGUE, March 6. /TASS/. Russia continues to inform the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons about chemical provocations by Ukrainian armed formations, said Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia's envoy to the OPCW.
He made the statement at the 105th session of the organization's Executive Council.
Russia continues to "actively inform the OPCW of the ongoing chemical threat in Ukraine, warning of chemical provocations by Ukrainian armed formations and also reporting whenever they use chemically hazardous facilities for military purposes," the diplomat said, according to a copy of his speech provided by his office.
As part of these efforts, the Russian Permanent Mission to the OPCW held an event on the sidelines of the session on March 5, where it presented the data on the subject that are available to the Russian Defense Ministry.
"Preventing such criminal acts is a shared responsibility of the states-parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention," Tarabrin said.
It was earlier reported that on 27 February, the Federal Security Service foiled a terrorist attack that Ukrainian security services planned to carry out in the Zaporozhye Region, which involved the use of a substance comparable to a chemical warfare agent. Three citizens of Ukraine were detained. The seized substances are used to build chemical weapons of mass destruction and were developed in the US. The Investigation Department of the Russian Federal Security Service is investigating the thwarted attack.
The Russian envoy also called on OPCW members to pay special attention to risks of using chemical weapons by non-state actors.
"In the pursuit of the implementation of political policies, this issue has been overshadowed," he said. "But this is a very serious problem. Terrorists from various countries of the Middle East have the knowledge and material base to produce fully functional chemical warfare agents; have access not only to precursors and toxic substances, but also to delivery vehicles for them; and are experienced in using them."