UK sanctions Russian officials and lab over chemical weapons use in Ukraine

The United Kingdom has imposed new sanctions on Russian individuals and an organization involved in the use and transfer of chemical weapons in Ukraine, the British government announced on July 7.

According to the updated sanctions list published on the U.K. government’s official website, the new measures target Russia’s Scientific Research Institute of Applied Chemistry, as well as Lieutenant General Alexei Rtishchev, head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, and his deputy, Andrei Marchenko.

The U.K. government said that both of them “have been responsible for, engaging in, providing support for, or promoting prohibited activity related to chemical weapons."

The Scientific Research Institute of Applied Chemistry was sanctioned for providing Russia’s military with handheld chemical grenades, which have been used against Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The new British sanctions come amid growing international concern over Russia’s escalating use of banned chemical agents in its war against Ukraine.

On July 4, the Netherlands Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) reported that Russian troops are increasingly deploying chemical weapons— including chloropicrin, a highly toxic World War I-era agent, in the field.

The agents are reportedly dropped by drones to flush Ukrainian soldiers from trenches, leaving them exposed to further drone or artillery strikes. While Russia previously used tear gas, the confirmed use of chloropicrin, a substance banned under international law, is “absolutely unacceptable,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.

Ukrainian authorities say Russia has conducted more than 9,000 chemical attacks since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. At least three Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly died from direct exposure.

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