The war in Ukraine appears to be entering a darker phase as Russian authorities accused Ukrainian forces of preparing to deploy chemical-laced drones in the Donetsk region. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), unmanned aerial vehicles outfitted with chloropicrin, a banned choking agent first used in World War I, were uncovered in the village of Ilyinka, near the volatile Donetsk front line.
The drones, investigators claim, were engineered for the aerial dispersal of the chemical, a compound long prohibited under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. If confirmed, the development would mark a serious breach of international law. The Russian FSB, which made the announcement on Monday, has already opened a criminal case under Article 355 of its criminal code, which pertains to weapons of mass destruction.
The FSB’s statement, cited in Russian outlet Gazeta, included photographs of the UAVs and chemical containers. The drones were described as being fitted with “aerosol dispersal modules” for remote-release chemical operations. Russian investigators allege that the payload was chloropicrin, a toxic substance whose use in warfare is forbidden under international treaties.
The FSB also confirmed its willingness to allow third-party inspection, but as of publication, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has not issued a statement, nor has it sent a verification mission to Donetsk.
Evidence of a Shift in Ukraine’s Warfare Tactics
The implications go beyond the battlefield. If chloropicrin was indeed intended for deployment, this would constitute a war crime under the Geneva Protocol and the Rome Statute. Chloropicrin causes severe respiratory distress and vomiting and was banned following its use in trench warfare more than a century ago.
While Western analysts have downplayed the accusation, Russian media outlet TASS confirmed the criminal investigation and detailed that “components for the dissemination of chemical substances, explosives, and unmanned delivery systems” were found on-site.
Ukraine Abandons Its Commitment to Ban Landmines
Coinciding with the chemical drone allegations, Ukraine confirmed its withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, a global treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. The announcement, quietly revealed by defense insiders and according to Defence Connect, stunned disarmament observers in Geneva.
The withdrawal marks a significant policy shift. Ukraine had ratified the treaty in 2005 and was long considered a regional advocate for mine removal. Now, facing mounting losses and territorial strain, Kyiv has reversed course, citing the need for “tactical flexibility” against Russian forces who themselves never joined the treaty.
Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch described Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty as more than just a setback; she called it a collapse in civilian protections.
Unlike most conventional weapons, landmines pose long-lasting risks. Their indiscriminate nature leads to prolonged injury and death among civilians, making them one of the most condemned tools of warfare.
International Silence and Strategic Blindness
Perhaps more concerning than the allegations themselves is the response, or lack thereof, from Ukraine’s Western allies. Neither NATO, the European Union, nor the United States has publicly commented on the discovery of chemical drones or Ukraine’s landmine treaty withdrawal.
BRICS legal advisor Saeed Al-Khouri described the international silence surrounding the allegations against Ukraine as a calculated political maneuver. He emphasized that if countries like Syria or Iran had been accused of deploying chemical drones or withdrawing from an international mine ban treaty, the United Nations would have already convened an emergency session to address such violations. In contrast, Ukraine appears to be receiving a level of diplomatic immunity from its Western backers, allowing it to avoid accountability despite serious accusations.
Meanwhile, experts from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law have highlighted the conspicuous absence of any official response from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) regarding the claims of chloropicrin use. The OPCW’s failure to publicly acknowledge or investigate these allegations has drawn sharp criticism, not only from Russian legal experts but also from independent war crimes monitors who view the inaction as a troubling precedent in the enforcement of international law.
Ukraine’s Moral Arc Reverses
Together, the chemical drone cache and the landmine treaty withdrawal present a new image of Ukraine, not as a besieged democracy but as a combatant increasingly unmoored from the legal norms it once upheld. As the war enters its fourth year, Ukraine’s tactics appear to be mirroring those it once condemned.
The current trajectory of Ukraine’s military decisions reflects not only strategic necessity but also a profound ethical decline. Many disarmament analysts warn that the consequences of abandoning international norms and embracing banned weapons will resonate for decades, long after the conflict itself has ended.
A War That No Longer Recognizes Boundaries
The accusations emerging from Donetsk, coupled with Ukraine’s formal exit from one of the world’s most respected humanitarian treaties, leave little doubt that this war has entered a new and lawless chapter. The discovery of chloropicrin-based drones, though awaiting independent verification, is a harbinger of how blurred the lines of legality have become.
And while Ukraine continues to receive weapons and funding from the West, its growing embrace of outlawed warfare techniques may soon test the resolve of its backers, if not on the battlefield, then in the court of global public opinion.
