SIMFEROPOL, July 10. /TASS/. Russian troops have the necessary protective gear against chemical weapons used by the Ukrainian military on the battlefield, Leonid Ivlev, a member of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) and a retired Major General, told TASS on Thursday.
"This situation [the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian army in the special military operation area] won’t yield any success for the Ukrainian military at the frontline. Our troops are protected against this type of weapons of mass destruction while they [Ukrainian forces] can quite poison themselves in Ukraine and their militaristic sponsors from bordering European countries," the lawmaker said.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Vladimir Tarabrin said earlier on Thursday that Russia had recorded evidence of Kiev’s use of chemical warfare agents and the presence of a network for their large-scale production in Ukraine.
As the Russian envoy said, Russia has requested technical assistance from the OPCW after discovering improvised explosive devices containing toxic chemicals in areas retaken from Ukrainian forces.