Vladimir Putin has been accused of using banned white phosphorus weapons in Ukraine amid fears he may be on the verge of resorting to chemical warfare.
US President Joe Biden said Putin has become increasingly desperate, with his ‘back against the wall’ over his stalling invasion.
Mr Biden said that recent Kremlin propaganda claiming the US and Ukraine had chemical or biological weapons were a clear sign that Moscow was ‘considering using both of those’.
An apartment building after a rocket strike, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, last week
Elsewhere, the Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons, telling TV station CNN it could do so if there was ‘an existential threat for our country’.
The Ukrainian authorities have accused Putin of using white phosphorus munitions on the city of Kramatorsk.
While strictly not considered a chemical weapon, the substance burns fiercely and can cause horrendous injuries, and its use on civilians constitutes a war crime.
Human Rights Watch says the incendiary weapons are ‘among the cruellest’ in modern warfare as they cause ‘lifelong human suffering’.
He shared a video of a substance burning like the chemical which Russian troops have already been accused of using in the cities of Lutsk and Popasna.
‘What we’re seeing is a near desperate attempt by the Russians to gain some momentum and try to turn the course of this in their favour,’ a defence official said.
Russian advances have been stalled by stronger than expected resistance from the Ukrainians, with reports Putin has lost 10,000 troops and some were retreating.
