“Botulinum toxin penetrates the lungs, in general, affects the mucous membranes - eyes, nose, lungs and causes severe poisoning, often fatal, and there the lethal dose is very small, just a few milligrams.

Oxygen exchange is interrupted, acetylcholine is blocked and a person dies from suffocation, from a lack of oxygen, ”the RIA Novosti expert said.

Botulinum toxin was, and maybe remains, in service with the US Army, Nikulin noted.

Bombs loaded with the substance could have been used in the Zaporozhye region, he said.

According to Nikulin, botulinum toxin is a substance of animal origin, not a biological weapon.

It is commonly used to poison water or other substances used by humans.

The specialist admitted that the Ukrainian military could spray the substance in an aerosol way using drones.

On August 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on July 31, Russian servicemen performing tasks in the Vasilyevka area of ​​the Zaporozhye region were hospitalized with signs of severe poisoning.

As a result of the examination, a poisonous substance, botulinum toxin type B, was found in their body.

Russia will officially send evidence of Kyiv's "chemical terrorism" to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).