Ukraine and Russia Are Violating Ban on Chemical Weapon Use in War – Is It Accelerating? (VIDEO)

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Both Ukraine and Russia signed and ratified the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

Article I (5) of the Convention states: “Each State Party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare.”

Article II (7) defines “Riot Control Agent” as: “Any chemical not listed in a Schedule, which can produce rapidly in humans, sensory irritation or disabling physical effects which disappear within a short time following termination of exposure.”

Videos from Russian and Ukrainian sources released online show that chemical weapons as defined above are being used in the Ukraine war.

The following video shows a riot control agent being deployed against Russian troops from a Ukrainian drone in clear violation of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

(Video, Ukrainian drone tear gas attack)

It appears that the Russians have also used riot control agents against Ukrainian positions, but in the following video no Ukrainian soldiers appear to have been affected.

(Video, Russian drone tear gas attack)

One of the reasons given for including riot control agents in the 1993 Chemical Weapons Conventions was that their use in war might lead to the deployment of more dangerous chemical agents.

Has that happened?

A recently published Gateway Pundit article, included a Ukrainian-made and Ukrainian-distributed video of a Russian soldier flailing in a waist-deep, watered-filled ditch unable to right himself after another accompanying Russian soldier apparently died from unknown causes.

Additional analysis has been done on that video, which confirms and expands upon the initial observations presented in the original Gateway Pundit article.

Relevant screenshots are presented in an attempt to ascertain what had occurred, even though the video is edited, often unclear and may not show sequential events.

Two types of high explosive munitions are shown in the video, a F1 fragmentation hand grenade and a 30mm VOG-17M.

Based on the video evidence, it is possible that the first Russian soldier was killed by the F1 hand grenade dropped from the Ukrainian drone, but the lead (second) Russian soldier appeared unaffected by it.

The lead (second) Russian soldier was already flailing and unable to right himself in waist-deep water before the second, 30mm VOG-17M, munition was dropped from the drone.

The cause of the flailing was obviously edited out of the video.

Seizure or convulsive-like responses are more characteristic of chemical weapon use than injuries sustained from high explosive munitions.

Hydrogen cyanide and nerve gas can cause seizures or convulsions, the former agent being easier to obtain, handle and deploy.

Clearly, both Ukraine and Russia have violated the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention by their use of riot control agents.

It appears that these actions are becoming more dangerous which is certainly worthy of investigation.

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Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. He had a civilian career in international business and medical research. Dr. Sellin is the author of Restoring the Republic: Arguments for a Second American Revolution. His email address is [email protected].

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Country Closes Airspace Amid Fears of Russian Coup

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Moldova briefly closed airspace Tuesday due to “security issues” amid fears of a Russian plot to overthrow the government, according to media reports.

The federal aviation authority closed and reopened airspace briefly following unconfirmed reports of a Russian drone sighting over the country, which is positioned along Ukraine’s southern border near the Black Sea and tolerates Russian military presence in a breakaway sliver of territory, Meduza reported. Ukrainian intelligence services warned the neighboring country that Moscow planned to topple the pro-Western central government Monday, according to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL).

“Documents received from our Ukrainian partners show documentation of the locations and logistical aspects of organizing these subversions,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said, according to RFERL. “The plan also involves the use of people from outside the country for violent actions,” she added, calling for “maximum vigilance.”

Moscow denied the plot to overthrow Moldova’s government, RFE/RL reported.

“Such claims are completely unfounded and unsubstantiated,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, accusing Ukraine of providing false intelligence intended to inflame tensions between Russia and Moldova, according to RFE/RL. (Read more from “Country Closes Airspace Amid Fears of Russian Coup” HERE)

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Decimated: Russians Lose Dozens of Armored Vehicles in Ukrainian Ambush, Video Shows

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Graphic drone footage appears to show dozens of Russian armored vehicles getting ambushed and destroyed during a single botched attack near the coal-mining town of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow’s forces have been trying to capture for months.

Vuhledar, a Ukrainian stronghold at the strategic intersection between the eastern and southern front lines, has seen some of the bloodiest fighting of the war as the Kremlin is gearing up for a decisive offensive on the eastern front.

Based on the newly released video evidence, a column of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles was lost or damaged last week, with a large number of troops apparently killed.

Russian soldiers are seen in aerial footage fleeing for their lives under sustained aerial bombardment by the Ukrainians.

In the chaos, Russian tanks are seen mowing down their own men. (Read more from “Decimated: Russians Lose Dozens of Armored Vehicles in Ukrainian Ambush, Video Shows” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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World War II Bomb Unexpectedly Explodes in Europe After Being Found

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A bomb from World War II that was discovered this week in Europe unexpectedly exploded on Friday as military officials tried to defuse it.

The bomb was found Tuesday at a river crossing in Great Yarmouth, leading officials to evacuate the area.

Military experts had reportedly been using a technique to defuse the bomb that slowly burns the explosives. The bomb quickly exploded, sending an audible blast wave that rattled buildings 15 miles away.

Norfolk Police said that no one was injured or killed by the explosion.

“We can confirm the unexploded World War II bomb in Great Yarmouth has detonated,” they said in a statement. “This was not a planned detonation & happened during slow burn work to disarm the explosives. All army & emergency service personnel are accounted for. We will bring you further info when we have it.”

(Read more from “World War II Bomb Unexpectedly Explodes in Europe After Being Found” HERE)

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Russian Soldiers Dying at Highest Rate Since Beginning of War With More Than 800 Daily

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Russia’s army is currently losing soldiers at the highest rate since the first week of the war almost a year ago — with a remarkable 824 troops dying each day, UK officials say.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense made the stunning claim Sunday, citing Ukrainian General Staff updates, but said it could not verify Ukraine’s methodology.

“The trends the data illustrate are likely accurate,” the Ministry said.

At rate of 824 deaths per day is about four times higher than the mean in June-July 2022, the UK government said.

“Ukraine also continued to suffer a high attrition rate,” the Defense Intelligence update stated without providing specific numbers. “The uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources across the front — this is exemplified in Vuhledar and Bakhmut.” (Read more from “Russian Soldiers Dying at Highest Rate Since Beginning of War With More Than 800 Daily” HERE)

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WWIII Watch: UK Set to Send Long Range Missiles to Ukraine

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has suggested that British long-range missiles, which the Ukrainians say they want to use to launch an offensive against occupied Crimea, could be sent to Ukraine as the war heats up one year on since the invasion. Meanwhile, Zelensky warns that Russia intends to invade EU-member-candidate Moldova next.

Following Rishi Sunak’s declaration that “nothing is off the table” on military aid to Ukraine, Whitehall is now actively considering sending long-range missiles to the war-torn country in addition to potential fighter jets. Speaking from the Lulworth army camp in Dorset on Wednesday, the prime minister said: “Probably the most crucial capability right now is main battle tanks, which we led on, but also those long-range missiles.

“In all the talking we’ve done and the planning for how we can have the sight of victory in the battlefield and make progress, it requires long-range missiles,” Sunak continued. “Currently the range is not there. That’s the conversation we’ve been having and again we hope Britain can lead.”

According a report from The Times of London, the two types of missiles being considered are the 150-mile range truck or ship-mounted Harpoon high-explosive anti-ship missiles and the deep penetration blast Storm Shadow [general purpose cruise missile] with a range of 350 miles. (Read more from “WWIII Watch: UK Set to Send Long Range Missiles to Ukraine” HERE)

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Same-Sex Marriages to Receive Blessings in the Church of England

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Same-sex marriages will receive “prayers for God’s blessing” for the first time in the Church of England following a vote at the General Synod, the legislative body of the established church of England.

On Thursday, the three houses of the Synod voted in favour of officially recognising gay marriages for the first time, with priests now being empowered to give their blessings to such unions.

The vote was overwhelmingly approved by the House of Bishops, which supported the measure by a margin of 36 to four, with two members of the house abstaining from the vote. However, the issue was far more contested amongst the lower houses of the Synod, with the House of Clergy backing the measure by a vote of 111 to 85, with three abstentions, and by the House of Laity which supported the move by a margin of 103 to 92, with five abstaining members.

In a joint statement, the two most senior bishops in the Church, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York said: “It has been a long road to get us to this point.

(Read more from “Same-Sex Marriages to Receive Blessings in the Church of England” HERE)

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Meltdown: UK’s Government-Run Healthcare Service Faltering Under Crisis Conditions

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. . .We’ve covered these impacts in countries like Canada and the UK previously, but a new Wall Street Journal report further spotlights a worsening healthcare crisis in the latter nation:

[Britain’s] state-funded service is falling apart. People who suffer heart attacks or strokes wait more than 1½ hours on average for an ambulance. Hospitals are so full they are turning patients away. A record 7.1 million people in England—more than one in 10 people—are stuck on waiting lists for nonemergency hospital treatment like hip replacements. The NHS on Monday faced the biggest strike in its history, with thousands of paramedics and nurses walking out over pay. The NHS’s woes are an extreme example of issues playing out across the developed world. Healthcare systems, hit hard by Covid, are under pressure as people live longer and have a wider range of treatment options. Aging populations mean costs will keep growing. The U.K.’s experience is a warning of what happens when supply in healthcare provision can’t keep up with demand.

The NHS has lost thousands of hospital beds in the past decade in its drive for efficiency. Covid delayed treatments for patients, resulting in a vast waiting list. Hospitals in England were already at 98% capacity in December when the brutal flu season began to take hold. The mass of sick patients gummed up the system to devastating effect. Delays in treating people are causing the premature deaths of 300 to 500 people a week, according to estimates from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, a professional association in London. One in five British people were waiting for a medical appointment or treatment by the NHS in December, according to the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS)…Fixing the service will take time, said NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard. The NHS said that over the next year it aims to cut the average time a heart attack sufferer waits for an ambulance to 30 minutes.

The targeted, aspirational improvement would be an ambulance waiting time of half an hour for someone having a heart attack. An estimated 300-500 excess/premature deaths per week under the foundering NHS, which the Brits treat as something of a national religion. (Read more from “Meltdown: UK’s Government-Run Healthcare Service Faltering Under Crisis Conditions” HERE)

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Addressing UK Parliament, Zelensky Thanks Country ‘in Advance’ for Warplanes

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the British Parliament Wednesday afternoon, expressing his view on military alliances in terms of equipment transfers, and thanking the United Kingdom “in advance” for the gift of its warplanes.

The speaker of the British House of Commons was presented with a signed combat pilot’s helmet by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday afternoon, saying the gift should act as a symbol to help get Western warplanes donated to the Ukrainian war effort. Indicating, perhaps, that he now considers getting British fighter jets is now a fait accompli Zelensky said in his address to the UK Parliament that he was “thanking all of you –in advance — for powerful English planes”.

The claim may not be so outlandish, given just hours before, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK was to start training Ukrainian pilots in flying what have been identified as “NATO-standard fighter jets”, the first country to publicly announce such a development.

Zelensky’s speech was heavy on the subject of military equipment, and framed the whole concept of international alliances in terms of them being vehicles for the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. Throughout his address, the President referred to a “coalition of NLAW and Javelin“, a “coalition of artillery rounds and air defence”, and the “coalition of the planes”. (Read more from “Addressing UK Parliament, Zelensky Thanks Country ‘in Advance’ for Warplanes” HERE)

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China Wants Its Downed Spy Aircraft Back, Blasts U.S. ‘Use of Force’ Response to Surveillance Flight

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The People’s Republic of China is requesting the return of its surveillance aircraft after the balloon was shot down over the continental United States on Saturday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning fielded questions Tuesday about the incident, which dominated news cycles and commanded attention from U.S. politicians.

Asked for additional information regarding the purpose of the spy balloon and reports of similar aircraft making routes through North American and South American airspace, Mao declined.

“The Chinese side has given information about the unmanned airship on several occasions. I don’t have anything to add at the moment,” she stated.

The Pentagon said it “acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information” from the spy platform. But geopolitical experts said there is little reason to believe those efforts were successful as the balloon almost certainly transferred surveillance data over to China as it flew over several military bases. (Read more from “China Wants Its Downed Spy Aircraft Back, Blasts U.S. ‘Use of Force’ Response to Surveillance Flight” HERE)

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