Russia May Launch A Chemical Assault In Ukraine, According To The White House
The White House has stated that Russia may be contemplating a chemical or biological weapon assault in Ukraine, and that "we should all be on the lookout."
Russia's accusations regarding US biological weapon facilities and chemical weapon development in Ukraine, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, are absurd.
The bogus charges, she said, were a "obvious effort" to justify more deliberate, unjustified attacks.
It comes following similar fears from Western officials about new assaults.
They expressed "grave concern" about the likelihood of the battle escalating, particularly if Russia used non-conventional weapons.
Chemical weapons are most commonly in mind, but the word also encompasses tactical (small-scale) nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and dirty bombs.
"We have reason to be alarmed," one Western diplomat remarked.
They said this was partially due to what had happened in other areas where Russia had been involved, such as Syria, where its partners had used chemical weapons.
"We should all be on the lookout for Russia to deploy chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to stage a false flag operation involving them," Ms. Psaki said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said in a tweet that Russia had used thermobaric rockets in Ukraine. These rockets are also known as vacuum bombs because they suck in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion.
This makes them more devastating than conventional explosives of a similar size, and can have a terrible impact on people caught in their blast radius.