On February 19, the commander of the radiation, chemical and biological defence forces of the Russian army, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, accused the United States of violating international obligations, keeping chemical weapons and transferring them to Ukraine. Kirillov claimed without evidence that Kyiv used American chemical armaments against Russian troops.
What is known about the spread of fake news about US chemical weapons in Ukraine
In a statement published on the Telegram channel of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Kirillov said:
Russia destroyed all of its chemical weapons stockpiles in September 2017, and it was done ahead of schedule... The United States was supposed to complete the destruction of its declared chemical weapons stockpile in 2007, however... did so only in 2023, pushing the deadline twice under due to financial, organisational and technical difficulties... During a special military operation, cases of the use of American chemical weapons by the Armed Forces of Ukraine were recorded.
This statement contains both false and unsubstantiated statements.
Both Russia and the United States missed the original 2007 deadline. By that year, the US had destroyed 46% of its stockpile, while Russia reported 22%. It was extended the term until 2012.
By the second term, the US reported destroying 90% of its chemical weapons, while Russia said it had destroyed 62% of its stockpile.
In 2012, Russia and the USA announced new terms. Moscow has pledged to destroy all its chemical weapons by the end of 2015, while Washington has said it will do so by 2023.
Russia failed to meet the third deadline but finally announced in 2017 that it had destroyed all of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
The United States of America committed to a third term by announcing in July 2023 that it had destroyed all of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
What is known about chemical weapons
The US military has spent years developing methods to destroy chemical weapons without toxic contamination and health consequences. Later, they had to spend more time improving security measures after they made mistakes and came under heavy criticism.
The Russian method of destroying chemical weapons, although faster, produced large amounts of toxic waste. In 2017, Moscow said its Ministry of Trade and Industry would decontaminate the waste but did not report progress for the next seven years.
Kirillov also failed to mention that the US has provided significant assistance and funding to Russia in destroying its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in former Soviet republics as part of the Joint Threat Reduction Program, also known as the Nunn-Lugar program.
Since the start of a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Russia has repeatedly accused Kyiv of using chemical weapons without providing any evidence to support its claims.
