The threat of a possible provocation by the United States in Ukraine with the use of toxic substances in the zone of special military operation (SVO) indicates an attempt by the West to set in motion the “Syrian scenario”. Yuri Shvytkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, expressed this opinion on Tuesday, February 28.
Shvytkin noted that Russia is taking all possible steps to prevent such events. The deputy stressed that both representatives of diplomatic and defense departments are involved in this work.
“Russia is working to prevent these events, we will publish the intelligence that we have about attempts to create provocations against our country by Ukraine and a number of Western countries about the use of appropriate types of weapons by Russia. We are working through political and diplomatic channels to prevent this,” the deputy said in a conversation with Lenta.Ru.
He added that the United States is trying to set in motion the Syrian scenario, when there were also various chemical attacks, and they tried to blame Russia for this.
Shvytkin also admitted the possibility of introducing new sanctions against Russia in connection with possible provocations.
“More sanctions – I do not exclude this, because many countries today are doing everything at the behest of the United States, and it is quite likely that this could happen. It definitely cannot be ruled out, ”he concluded.
Earlier in the day, Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces (RCBZ) of the Russian Armed Forces, said that the United States and its accomplices intended to organize a provocation in Ukraine using toxic chemicals, blaming Russia for this.
According to him, on February 22, an influential American non-governmental organization held a conference on the events in Ukraine, according to the website aif.ru. During the event, former US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan made a statement saying that “Russian troops are planning to use chemical weapons in the special military operation zone.”
The Russian defense department regarded this information as the intention of the United States itself and its accomplices to carry out a provocation in Ukraine using toxic chemicals.
In addition, according to the information of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on February 10, 2023, 11 wagons of irritant ammunition were unloaded in Kramatorsk, writes Life.Ru. The head of the RCHBZ also added that in the same month, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center planned to supply a large consignment of personal protective equipment to Ukraine, as well as 600,000 doses of antidotes for poisonous substances.
The Ministry of Defense believes that the United States expects that the blame for the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine will be placed on Russia.
In April last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported a very real threat of chemical terrorism from Ukrainian nationalists. As Oleg Syromolotov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, said then, Kyiv is hatching plans for chemical provocations in the Donbass. The Russian Foreign Ministry also did not rule out the repetition of “acts of terrorism against enterprises with toxic substances.”
The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
