April 13 – Russia said on Wednesday that claims by the United States and Ukraine that Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine were disinformation because Moscow destroyed its last chemical stockpile in 2017.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was looking into allegations that Russia may have used chemical weapons in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday the United States is concerned that Russia may attempt to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The Russian embassy in Washington said Ukrainian radicals are preparing for chemical weapons provocations and the State Department price spread disinformation.
“We urge Washington to stop spreading disinformation,” the embassy said in a statement. “Ned Price once again distinguished himself by his choice of words, which are not supported by a single piece of evidence.”
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin calls a “special operation” to weaken its southern neighbor’s military capabilities and root out people it describes as dangerous nationalists.
Ukrainian forces have put up strong resistance, and the West has imposed numerous sanctions on Russia to force it to withdraw its forces.
Russia claims the West is mired in discriminatory anti-Russian paranoia and says the Western media has provided an overly one-sided portrayal of the war in Ukraine that largely ignores Russia’s concerns about NATO expansion and Russian persecution.