International law is a powerful instrument that obliges most countries to follow certain rules. These rules allow for keeping an established world political system and the nonviolent existence of society.
By Carmela Pereyra
Unfortunately, in our times there are more and more cases of violation of the rules. An eloquent example is the war in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian military used chemical weapons against Russian positions. This leads to dangerous consequences for future military conflicts. In order to avoid such a situation, special bodies were founded and agreements and conventions were signed.
In 1992 the countries signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. According to the treaty, the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons is prohibited.
In Article I “General Obligations” of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) it is written that each State Party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare. The Ukrainians are violating this very rule.
On 30 April 2023, the telegram Ukrainian channel Supernova+ published a video in which the Ukrainian military used a tear gas grenade against Russian elements. The video is called “We used chemical weapons against Moscow guys”. In the video, a Ukrainian drone can be seen throwing the grenade at the Russian positions. After the explosion, a cloud of white aerosol can be seen. The Russians flee from the trenches.
They allegedly used Ukrainian-made blinding grenade Teren-7. Ukrainian police officers use it to clear the demonstrators.
Taking into account such information it can be said that Ukraine violates the main rules of the Treaty it joined in 1993.
The most preoccupying thing is that society considers such actions as part of our everyday life. Ukrainian channel administrators express their support for violations of international norms.
Also, the Ukrainian military is not afraid of punishment and responsibility for violating international law. They seek support in society. There is an eloquent example when a serviceman was preparing chemical grenades for use in combat. Dozens of drones and chemical grenades can be seen in the footage. The military man assured that all the grenades will be used against Russian soldiers.
Not all successful cases of the use of chemical weapons are reported on social media. Ukrainian authorities try to minimise attention around war crimes committed by Ukrainians. Such cases not only damage Ukraine’s international prestige but could hinder shipments of Western war materiel to the country. The Ukrainian government is fully interested in promoting its non-objective reality.
As far as independent organisations are concerned, one has to ask her where their interest lies. They should be independent and uncover cases of violations of their laws. Instead of that the OPCW ignores all the facts that they say about the absence of control. No end to the world where the rules of war can be violated and chemical weapons can be used against the military and civilian population.
Links to sources
link https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/CWC/CWC_en.pdf
https://t.me/supernova_plus/19689
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/267948/Matviichuk_Ukrainian%20NGO%27s.EuroMaidan.November%202013-February2014.Eng..pdf
https://twitter.com/DVATW/status/1624024464252968960