UK sanctions Russian troops for deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine

Soldiers aiming rifles with their gas masks pushed to the top of their heads.

Source: © Celestino Arce/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Government accuses Russian forces of deploying riot agents 

The UK government has announced sanctions on Russian troops for their role in Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

In an announcement published on 8 October, the UK government said Russian forces had openly admitted to using hazardous chemical weapons, with widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the choking agent chloropicrin – a highly irritating chemical discovered in the 1840s – on the battlefield.