Chemical warfare

Russia has been using banned chemical weapons, specifically chloropicrin gas, in battles along the front line in Ukraine to weaken Ukrainian troops' ability to defend their positions and force retreats.

The Kremlin on Thursday rejected allegations by the United States that Russian forces had used a "chemical weapon" in Ukraine and blasted new sanctions targeting Moscow's key trading partners.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that Russia used "the chemical weapon chloropicrin" against Ukrainian forces.

The Ukrainian armed forces poisoned the head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, with phenolic compounds.
The forces have repeatedly used toxic substances in battles against Russian soldiers, Igor Kirilov, head of the Unit for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection of the Russian Army, said today.

The cost of the emergency measures Greece bore for the energy shielding of Europe, taken by the Commission in the midst of the panic over a complete stoppage of Russian gas exports, came to more than 300 million euros.

Police in Athens are investigating an explosion of a handmade bomb at the entrance to an apartment building in the southern suburb of Glyfada.

The explosion, which occurred at 1:50 a.m., caused material damage.

Police said the improvised device comprised two gas canisters.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it will support the efforts by the United Nations for ensuring accountability over the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.

Igor Despotovic, a Serbian citizen, pleaded not guilty to publicly inciting terrorism by posting on the Telegram and Instagram accounts he moderated.

Despotovic told the Belgrade Higher Court he had posted things "out of boredom" and because he wanted "to post religious content".

The debate erupted over a report by an organization accusing Syria of a 2017 sarin and chlorine attack.
Russia called the allegations unfounded at a closed session of the UN Security Council, while EU countries claimed responsibility for the move by the Syrian government, AP reports.

The global chemical weapons watchdog on April 8 for the first time explicitly blamed Syria for toxic attacks, saying President Bashar al-Assad's air force used the nerve gas sarin and chlorine three times in 2017.    

An Iraqi protester died on Nov. 7 due to a wound caused by a tear gas canister fired by security forces, an Iraqi medical source said.