Today, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has transmitted to Ukraine its report on a Technical Assistance Visit (TAV) following an alleged incident of use of toxic chemicals as a weapon.
Upon Ukraine's request, under subparagraph 38(e) of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) , the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed to Ukraine in relation to an incident that reportedly took place on 20 September 2024, along the confrontation lines between opposing forces near the village of Illinka, in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
During the mission, the team of experts from the Technical Secretariat (TAV team) collected documentation and digital files, testimonies from first-hand witnesses, and received three samples collected by Ukraine: a shell of grenade and two soil samples collected from a trench.
Upon return to OPCW Headquarters, the samples were sent to two OPCW designated laboratories selected by the Director-General for independent analysis. This activity was carried out following OPCW procedures and in the presence of observers from the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the OPCW.
Overall, the documentation and the evidence handed over by Ukraine to the TAV team during the visit, the content of the digital files provided, as well as the information collected and the narrative described by first-hand witnesses, enabled the TAV team to corroborate that the chain of custody of the three samples collected from a trench in Ukraine, located along the confrontation lines with the opposing troops, was maintained.
The analyses by the OPCW designated laboratories, conducted separately and independently from one another, confirm that the grenade and soil samples collected from the trench contain the riot control agent 2-Chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile known as CS.
Under the CWC, the use of riot control agents as a method of warfare is prohibited.
Upon receipt of the TAV report, the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the OPCW requested the same day that the Technical Secretariat declassifies and shares the full report with all States Parties to the CWC and publish it on the OPCW public website.
The Director-General of the OPCW, Ambassador Fernando Arias, expressed grave concern over the findings, stating: "All 193 OPCW Member States, including the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have committed never to develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, transfer or use chemical weapons. States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention have declared that any use of chemical weapons is totally unacceptable and would violate the legal norms and standards of the international community. It is therefore important now for all States Parties to uphold the norm against chemical weapons." He reaffirmed the Technical Secretariat's readiness to continue assisting them through independent expertise. Director-General Arias also thanked the OPCW designated laboratories that supported the technical assistance request for their independent work and swift analysis.
Background
The OPCW Technical Secretariat has been monitoring the situation on the territory of Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022 in relation to allegations of use of toxic chemicals as weapons.
Both the Russian Federation and Ukraine have accused one another and reported a number of allegations of use of chemical weapons to the Organisation.
A compendium of all official correspondence by States Parties on such allegations and accusations has been made available on the OPCW public website and is regularly updated.
Article II, paragraph 7 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, provides that a Riot Control Agent is defined as any chemical not listed in a Schedule, which can produce rapidly, in humans, sensory irritation or disabling effects which disappear within a short time following termination of exposure.
Under the Convention, States Parties have the obligation to declare all toxic chemical agents they hold for riot control purposes. Furthermore, the Convention explicitly prohibits the use of riot control agents as a weapon of war on the battlefield. If used as a method of warfare, these agents are considered chemical weapons and, hence, are prohibited under Article I paragraph 5 of the Convention.
Article VIII, paragraph 38(e) of the Chemical Weapons Convention states that the Technical Secretariat shall provide technical assistance and technical evaluation to States Parties in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention, including the evaluation of scheduled and unscheduled chemicals.
OPCW experts and designated laboratories are a lynchpin of the Organisation's verification regime and its capacity to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use. Upon request from the Director-General, OPCW designated laboratories perform off-site analysis of chemical samples collected during OPCW deployments. They offer the necessary assurance to States Parties that chemical analyses needed to determine or to clarify issues related to such allegations are carried out competently, impartially, and with unambigious results.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 - totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents - have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW's strict verification regime. The Organisation continues to carry out its mandate related inter alia to non-proliferation, prevention, and use and threat of use of chemical weapons.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
