INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
government on Tuesday sanctioned the chemical and biological arm of Russia's Armed Forces and its commander Igor Kirillov over the alleged
use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.Britain and the United States have accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian
troops in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).The British Foreign Ministry said it had slapped sanctions on Kirillov and the
Russian army's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense unit "for helping deploy these barbaric weapons."It also sanctioned two
Russian Defense Ministry laboratories "for providing support for the development and deployment" of chemical agents on the frontline."The
will not sit idly by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention,"
said Foreign Secretary David Lammy."Russia's cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent and I will use the full arsenal
of powers at my disposal to combat Russia's malign activity."Chloropicrin is an oily liquid with a pungent odor known as a choking agent
that was widely used during World War I as a form of tear gas.The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels it a
"lung-damaging agent" that can cause severe irritation to skin, eyes and respiratory systems.The Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) specifically prohibits its use.Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal but the country
faces pressure for more transparency over the alleged use of toxic weapons.In May, the OPCW said that information it had received until now
on the alleged use of chloropicrin in Ukraine was "insufficiently substantiated." The Kremlin called the claims "baseless and
unsubstantiated."In June, Ukraine accused Russia of increasing frontline attacks using prohibited hazardous chemicals and had registered
more than 700 cases of their use the previous month.Moscow has signed and ratified the CWC, which outlaws the production and use of chemical
weapons.The sanctions subject Kirillov to an asset freeze and ban him from entering the United Kingdom
They also freeze the assets of the sanctioned entities.The UK has been one of Ukraine's biggest backers in its war against Russia's
