Chemical Troops - Offensive
When the USSR collapsed, Russia inherited the world’s largest and most sophisticated chemical weapons capability. Moscow is a member of the CWC and has declared a 40,000 metric ton stockpile. The Russian Federation became a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention on December 5, 1997, and submitted its initial declaration on time. The Russian declaration included CW production facilities (CWPFs), CW storage facilities (CWSFs), a development facility, and a stockpile of approximately 40,000 metric tons of CW agent. The United States judged that Russia is in violation of its CWC obligations because its CWC declaration was incomplete with respect to declaration of production and development facilities, and declaration of chemical agent and weapons stockpiles.
The 33rd TsNIII, GosNIIOKhT, and the 27th Scientific Center have engaged in activities to develop Russia’s chemical weapons capabilities, including technologies for delivering such weapons. GosNIIOKhT is a Russian institute with a longstanding role in researching and developing chemical weapons, and GosNIIOKhT developed Russia’s Novichok chemical weapons. Since 2016, GosNIIOKhT has expanded its research, development, testing, and evaluation capabilities. 33rd TsNIII and the 27th Scientific Center are organizations subordinate to the Russian Federation Armed Forces Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Defense troops. 33rd TsNIII stewards Russia’s Shikhany Chemical Proving Ground, where Russia conducts chemical weapons-related testing. The 27th Scientific Center has been involved with Russian chemical weapons research and testing activities.
Since 1992, Russian scientists familiar with Moscow’s chemical warfare development program have been publicizing information on a new generation of agents, sometimes referred to as “Novichoks.” These scientists report that these compounds, some of which are binary agents, were designed to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention and to defeat Western detection and protection measures. Furthermore, it is believed that their production can be hidden within commercial chemical plants. There is concern that the technology to produce these compounds might be acquired by other countries.
The Novichok, or “newcomer” class of nerve agents are lesser characterized, weaponized organophosphate agents. The use of known Novichok agents in warfare is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997. Novichok agents are considered more potent than VX gas and can be applied in unitary and binary forms. Like other nerve agents, Novichok agents irreversibly bind acetylcholinesterase and produce a cholinergic toxidrome. Uniquely, these agents are thought to also target neurons in the peripheral nervous system. Delayed treatment or massive exposure may therefore cause a debilitating neuropathy. The recent 2018 assassination attempt of Russian dissident Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom highlights the importance of recognizing the potential lethal effects of these nerve agents.
In September 2013, Russia pressed for, negotiated and agreed to the framework for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons – a diplomatic understanding between the United States and Russia requiring the verifiable destruction of Syria’s entire chemical weapons stockpile. In so doing, Russia assumed responsibility as guarantor for ensuring that its Syrian allies cease all use of chemical weapons and fully declare its chemical weapons stockpile for destruction under international oversight.
Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime continued use of chemical weapons against its own people. Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bore responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons since Russia became involved in Syria. As of February 2018, there had been 234 separate and documented chemical attacks since the beginning of the Syrian war, resulting in over 13,000 injuries and 3415 deaths. Two hundred eleven of these attacks were attributed to chlorine gas alone, or chlorine with traces of sarin.
Washington and its allies have accused Moscow of preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, but Russia has rejected the accusations, and countered that Kiev might be planning a “false flag” attack to pin the blame on Russia in order to draw in NATO intervention. The Russian Federation has repeatedly spread disinformation regarding Syria’s repeated use of chemical weapons. The web of lies that Russia cast in an attempt to justify the premeditated and unjustified war it had undertaken against Ukraine, should make clear, once and for all, that Russia also cannot be trusted when it talks about chemical weapon use in Syria.
The United States has no intention of using chemical weapons under any circumstances, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on 25 March 2022. The comment came a day after President Joe Biden said that a Russian deployment of such substances in Ukraine would trigger “a response in kind.” Biden’s statement led to speculation that the US would intervene militarily in Ukraine if Russia used chemical weapons, whether by conventional means or by using chemical weapons of its own. Biden, who had thus far ruled out direct American involvement in the ongoing conflict, added that “the nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Sullivan said on Friday that Biden’s use of the phrase “response in kind” was referring to proportionality, and that “there will be a severe price if Russia uses chemical weapons.”
On 01 May 2024 the US Department of State delivered to Congress a determination pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) regarding Russia’s use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops. Pursuant to the CBW Act, the Department is re-imposing restrictions on foreign military financing, U.S. Government lines of credit, and export licenses for defense articles and national security-sensitive items going to Russia. The Department also is sanctioning three Russian government entities associated with Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies that have contributed to such entities.
The US made this determination in addition to the assessment that Russia had used riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC. The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield. Russia’s ongoing disregard for its obligations to the CWC comes from the same playbook as its operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents.
In coordination with the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State designated three Russian Federation government entities associated with Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies providing support to such entities. The Department of the Treasury is separately designating three entities and two individuals involved in procuring items for military institutes involved in Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs, pursuant to a separate WMD non-proliferation authority.
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