THE HAGUE, July 15. /TASS/. The risk of chemical provocations has increased amid the setbacks of the Ukrainian military, said Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia's envoy to the OPCW.
"As the situation is evolving to be catastrophic for Ukrainian forces along the engagement line, the risk of [chemical] provocations has become especially high," he told TASS. "Our enemies are using all possible methods to blame Russia, from creating fake accounts, where alleged Russian fighters brag about 'smoking the enemy out of their burrows with the help of chemical riot control agents,' to placing heavy weapons at chemical industrial sites. A retaliatory strike against them would immediately be interpreted as a deliberate chemical attack."
"That is why Russia's presence in the OPCW is so important," the diplomat said.
According to Tarabrin, Russia uses the organization as a podium to communicate to member countries, in an open and reasonable way, the true state of affairs and the Russian position, and "to expose insidious plans of Ukrainian nationalists, which they hatch with the support, and often with the direct participation, of Western intelligence services."
"We will continue to do this vigorously in the future," he said.