OPCW Finds Toxic Chemical Use in Ukraine

December 2024

Investigators for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed the presence of a toxic chemical at the site of a September military battle in Ukraine, which is fighting to repel a full-scale invasion by Russia.

In a report issued on Nov. 18 after a technical assistance site visit near the village of Illinka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the OPCW said that the toxic chemical 2-Chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile, also known as CS, was determined to be present during a confrontation that took place on Sept. 20.

The OPCW expert team collected documentation and digital files and testimonies from first-hand witnesses and received three samples gathered by Ukraine: a grenade shell and two soil samples collected from a trench. Afterward, grenade and soil samples analyzed by two separate OPCW designated laboratories found traces of CS, a riot control agent that is prohibited from being used as a method of warfare under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The OPCW visit was requested by Ukraine under Article VIII of the CWC. It came after the Ukrainian Parliament ratified an agreement on privileges and immunities for technical assistance visits between Ukraine and the OPCW Technical Secretariat. (See ACT, June 2024.)

OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias lamented the treaty violation represented by the incident and reiterated the secretariat’s commitment to assisting CWC states-parties in upholding the norm against chemical weapons.

Ukraine asked the secretariat to make the full report public and share it with all states-parties. The report was released one week before the beginning of the annual CWC conference of states-parties, Nov. 25-29 in The Hague.—MINA ROZEI