OPCW Visits Ukraine After Accusations of Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited Ukraine last week to deliver critical chemical weapons detection equipment and training. The visit — following accusations by Kyiv and Washington that Russia has used banned riot-control agents against Ukrainian troops — provides a basis for the OPCW to verify any prior and future Russian use of chemical weapons and for OPCW member states to penalize Russia.

The OPCW announced on July 9 that it had conducted a Technical Assistance Visit (TAV) to Ukraine on July 2-3 and provided LCD 3.3 detectors, which “alert to gas and [vapor] threats” and “determine the agent or type of chemical exposure, as well as the class, concentration and dosage.” The OPCW also trained 20 members of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, including first responders, in the operation of the detectors. The OPCW reported that since 2023, it has provided training to Ukrainians on responding to chemical attacks and taking samples for investigation of chemical weapons use. 

The United States sanctioned Russia and issued an official determination last May that Moscow had used a chemical weapon called chloropicrin as well as riot-control agents against Ukrainian soldiers, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.

To underscore that assessment, the U.S. ambassador to the OPCW, Nicole Shampaine, stated at a meeting of the OPCW’s 41-member Executive Council (EC) this week, “My country, together with others, is rushing to deliver tens of thousands of protective masks to Ukrainian soldiers who are being attacked by the Russian military on a regular basis with riot control agents and chemical weapons.”

Yet despite the increased focus on Russia’s alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, the EC has done too little to address previous, proven instances of Russian chemical weapons or to deter further attacks, such as by responding to incidents in 2018 and 2020 in which Moscow used CWC-prohibited nerve agent Novichok. 

The EC now has ample opportunity to act.

For the first time in OPCW history, Russia does not hold a seat on the EC after member states voted last December for Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania to assume seats allocated to the Eastern European region. Since 2018, Russia has been stymieing decision-making at the EC, causing delays and forcing votes over decisions that had normally passed unanimously.

Without Russia in the body to direct its voting coalition, decisions may pass more easily. Shampaine noted the apparent return to EC unanimity absent Russian interference, stating, “All of the reports we gaveled through at the beginning of this EC are a testament to our unity and common vision.” 

The EC should muster this unanimity and pass a decision requiring Moscow to demonstrate compliance with the CWC within 90 days, lest Russia’s OPCW voting rights and ability to hold office be suspended at a future session.

The United States and its OPCW partners should also urge Ukraine to request that the OPCW conduct a TAV to investigate any prior Russian use of chemical weapons, as permitted under the CWC. Such an investigation may also deter future use.

“If we are to uphold the mission of this Convention,” Shampaine stated, “we must make clear that Russia’s violations of the CWC are unacceptable, must be addressed, and must come to an end.” Washington and its partners have a unique opportunity to finally meet those words with actions.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Anthony Ruggiero is a senior adjunct fellow. He served as the National Security Council’s senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense in the Trump administration. For more analysis from the authors and FDD please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea and Anthony on X @StrickerNonpro and @NatSecAnthony. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.