The Pentagon says it’s monitoring claims that Russian forces deployed a poisonous substance in the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which if confirmed as a chemical weapon could further escalate the war. Yet clarity will be difficult to achieve.
The allegations were made by members of the Azov battalion, a right wing militia folded into Ukraine’s National Guard that has been part of Mariupol’s defense and has now retreated to the city’s vast steel factory, Azovstal, to mount a final stand.
The group posted video footage of some soldiers and a civilian suffering effects they said included flushed faces, heartburn, inflamed mucous membranes and dryness of the eyes.