“The Ukrainian Armed Forces use toxic compounds not only during military operations, but also to carry out terrorist acts. Thus, on August 9, 2022, the head of the administration of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, was hospitalized with signs of poisoning,” he noted.
It is clarified that laboratory tests showed the presence of the substance ricin, included in Schedule 1 of the CWC, in biomedical samples.
“In addition, on December 5, 2023, the head of the administration of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, received severe poisoning with phenolic compounds,” Kirillov added.
The representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense added that there are other cases of poisoning of high-ranking officials, investigations into which are ongoing.
Earlier, Kirillov said that Ukrainian troops had repeatedly used American-made chemical weapons during the conflict.