This is by no means confirmed or verified but multiple sources now are reporting that Russian army used chemical weapons (Sarin) deployed via UAV in Mariupol today. No deaths but 3 injured. Of course there will be claims that this is a hoax, false flag, etc. We’ll see.
On the one hand, it seems odd that Russia would wait until Mariupol is nearly in the bag to drop chemical weapons. Why run the risk one might think. On the other hand, if Putin is desperate to have at least 1 victory for his 9 May victory parade, it might explain incentive to wrap up Mariupol quickly. Plus there’s the chance that this is a ‘trial balloon’ by Russia to test: (1) Ukraine’s NBC defences and (2) limits of NATO tolerance for use of unconventional weapons. If NATO takes no action in response, expect Russia to start using chemical weapons more extensively.
And we can’t overlook that the new commander of all Russian forces in Ukraine, Aleksandr Dvornikov (this guy: www.rferl.org/...), was the first commander of Russian forces in Syria, where chemical weapons were used on civilians (and plenty of other war crimes). So we’ve got a general who’s ‘used’ to war crimes and using chemical weapons and voila, chemical weapons get deployed in his first week on the job (not to mention the missile attack on Kramatorsk rail station that killed nearly 60 civilians).
If there’s credible evidence that Russia has used chemical weapons, NATO/EU response needs to be swift and decisive: (1) give Ukraine those GD warplanes they’ve been begging for for past 6 weeks; and (2) slap total ban/embargo on Russian energy sales. The warplanes at this point are mainly symbolic as they don’t work on chemical munitions but demonstrates that NATO is (finally) all in on giving Ukraine the tools they need to defend themselves. An total embargo on Russian energy would, however, hit Putin where it hurts — hard. There’s no excuse for EU members (Germany, Hungary) continuing to subsidize Russia’s war and propaganda — other than economic ‘discomfort’.
Oh, and one more development: Reports that Polish troops fired on a Belarussian border checkpoint.
It just keeps getting crazier and crazier.