Russian forces ‘preparing to use chemical weapons’
Putin trying to fabricate pretext for barbaric attack in Ukraine, says US
RUSSIA may be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons against the people of Ukraine, the US warned last night amid fears of a barbaric escalation in the war.
Vladimir Putin’s regime was accused of trying to manufacture a pretext for such an attack, after claiming Ukraine had been working on biological weapons of its own.
At a meeting of the UN Security Council called by Russia to set out its theory, its ambassador claimed Ukraine had used the Covid pandemic as cover for developing the weapons with US support.
Vasily Nebenzya claimed, without presenting evidence, that the US had a plot to spread pathogens using migratory birds, bats and insects, and that their uncontrolled spread from Ukraine posed “a very real biological danger” to Eastern Europe.
Linda Thomas-greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said the claims were part of an attempt to fabricate “a pretext for attack”.
She said the US had “serious concerns that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people” as well as “for assassinations as part of a staged or false flag incident, or to support tactical military operations”.
She said: “Russia is attempting to use the security council to legitimise disinformation and deceive people to justify president Putin’s war of choice against the Ukrainian people.
“Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme.
“There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States. Not near Russia’s border or anywhere”.
She said Ukraine had public health laboratories to detect and diagnose diseases like Covid and that the US had helped Ukraine “to do this safely and securely”.
But she stressed the work was done “out in the open”, and added pointedly: “It is Russia that has long maintained a biological weapon programme in violation of international law.”
The UK’S permanent representative to the United Nations also accused Russia of promoting “wild, completely baseless and irresponsible conspiracy theories”.
Dame Barbara Woodward said Moscow was “sinking to new depths” and must not be allowed to abuse its seat on the council “to spread disinformation and lies”.
She said: “Russia has brought into the security council a series of wild, completely baseless and irresponsible conspiracy theories. Let me put it diplomatically: they are utter nonsense.
“We do not sit in this chamber to be an audience for Russia’s domestic propaganda. And we should not allow Russia to abuse its permanent seat to spread disinformation and lies and pervert the purpose of the security council.”
China’s representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, said his country had “noted with concern relevant information released by Russia” and believed that it should be “properly addressed”.
However the UN’S disarmament chief, Izumi Nakamitsu, said she was not aware of any biological weapons programme in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian envoy to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, condemned
Russia as the “aggressor state” and accused it of lies, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He said: “What will be the next target? One more residential building? One more maternity hospital? Russian troops have already hit all of these sites.”
He said indiscriminate Russian air strikes had “almost destroyed” the southern port city of Mariupol and killed 1,582 civilian residents.
“For the first time since World War Two people are being buried in mass graves in Ukrainian cities.”
Earlier, Boris Johnson also expressed fears Russia was spreading a “fake story” that the US or the Ukrainians had been developing weapons in Ukraine as a pretext for an atrocity.
The concern over biological and chemical weapons is also based on Russia’s record.
Besides the Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury in 2018, chlorine was also used by the Russianbacked Syrian government in Aleppo to end a stand-off with rebels. The toxic gas can be used against soldiers and civilians sheltering deep underground out of
the range of conventional bombs. Ukraine also warned yesterday that Russia may use a false flag to bring Belarus into the war by having its jets fire on a Belarusian target from Ukrainian airspace.
After a meeting in Moscow between Mr Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has already allowed Russian troops to use his country as a base for the invasion, Ukrainian officials warned Belarus could soon send its own troops to the conflict.
The warnings came as Russia expanded its operations in Ukraine, shelling towns and cities that had previously escaped bombardment, including a military airfield at Lutsk in the west of the country.
Mr Putin also told a Russian security council meeting that foreign volunteers should be able to fight against Ukrainian forces.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight, suggesting veterans of the Syrian conflict experienced in urban warfare may be deployed in the battle for Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden yesterday announced plans to ban the import of seafood, vodka and diamond from Russia as part of moves to revoke normal trading relations in co-ordination with the European Union and G7 countries.
Stripping “most favoured nation” status from Russia will allow the US and allies to impose higher tariffs on some Russian imports, increasing the pressure on the increasingly strained Russian economy.
“The free world is coming together to confront Putin,” Mr Biden said at the White House.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the G7 said they would “make further efforts to reduce our reliance on Russian energy”.
This would be “in an orderly fashion and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative and sustainable supplies” of oil and gas.
The leaders also committed to “continuing our campaign of pressure against Russian elites, proxies and oligarchs close to President Putin and other architects of the war as well as their families and their enablers”.
Youtube yesterday instituted a worldwide block on Russian statefunded media channels, while Russia moved to ban Whatsapp and Instagram.