A pro-Russian media station has claimed that the country’s servicemen were poisoned in a chemical attack in Ukraine.
It is feared that Russia is looking for reasons to legitimize the use of chemical weapons in its invasion of its southern neighbor, and the information is viewed as suspicious.
According to a statement from Russia’s defense ministry, evidence of Botulinum toxin Type B, a “organic poison of artificial origin,” were discovered in military samples, as reported by Russia Today.
The ministry accused Kiev of “domestic terrorism” and claimed Russian servicemen stationed near the town of Vasilyevka in Zaporozhe Region on July 31 were “hospitalized with evidence of serious poisoning.”
The statement continued, ‘The Zelensky administration has sanctioned terrorist actions against Russian servicemen and civilians involving the use of poisonous substances.’
In response, a Ukrainian interior ministry adviser said that the claimed poisoning may have been caused by Russian troops consuming expired tinned meat.
The notification from the Russian Ministry did not specify how many personnel had been injured or their current condition. It was not specified what “supporting evidence” consisted of.
Botulinum toxin type B is a neurotoxin that can induce botulism if consumed with tainted food, but it also has medical use.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry, stated, “The department (the Russian defense ministry) does not clarify whether the poisoning could have been caused by expired canned meat, which frequently contains botulinum toxin.
Since the earliest days of the invasion of Ukraine, occupying forces have vociferously complained about rations that have been delayed.
The Russian defense ministry stated that it was launching an additional probe into the illness of Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-installed administration in the occupied Ukrainian district of Kherson.
Saldo, a former mayor of the city of Kherson who was assigned to lead the same-named district after it was overrun by Russian troops in early March, fell ill in early August.
Russia claims that its “special military operation” began on February 24 aims to demilitarize Ukraine and safeguard Russian speakers on what President Vladimir Putin refers to as ancient Russian territory.
Ukraine and Western nations regard it as an unprovoked invasion aimed at eradicating Ukraine’s national character.
Yesterday, it was claimed that Ukrainian emergency personnel were practicing for a potential meltdown at the Zaporizhia facility. The nuclear facility is not located in the city of the same name under Ukrainian administration, but rather 30 miles downstream on Russian-controlled territory along the Dnieper River.
Kyiv asserts that Moscow has converted Europe’s largest nuclear plant into a military base, stashed explosives near the reactors, and is preparing a ‘false flag’ attack. According to Ukraine’s nuclear regulator, the Russian commander in charge of the plant has instructed his soldiers to be prepared to detonate it if Ukraine attempts to retake it. Russia has taken the power plant from the earliest weeks of Putin’s campaign in Ukraine, after its forces rushed out of occupied Crimea and seized huge portions of southern Ukraine.
In recent weeks, however, fears about the plant’s viability have increased as Russia attempts to isolate it from Ukraine’s main power grid and transfer its energy to Crimea – and as a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake the south intensifies.
Today, Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet in Lviv to discuss the situation at the nuclear power plant and the prospect of dispatching international inspectors to ensure its safety.
During his first visit to Ukraine since the start of the conflict, Erdogan will also discuss a plan to let Ukrainian ships carrying important food shipments to leave the country.