Russia has been accused of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Putin‘s forces are alleged to have used chloropicrin likely in an effort to ‘dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield’, the US State Department claimed on Wednesday.

Chloropicrin is a toxic agent that was originally designed for use as poison gas in World War I.

Announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow, the department assessed that the use of the potentially deadly gas and other ‘riot control agents’ were ‘not an isolated incident’ and came ‘from the same playbook as [Russia’s] operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents.

Russia has denied the poisoning of both late dissident Navalny and double agent Skripal. 

Ukrainian soldiers operate a 2S1 Gvozdika (‘Carnation’) self-propelled howitzer on April 27

Accompanying the claims, the US Treasury Department announced sweeping sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s military and industrial capabilities.

This was to include targeting nearly 300 entities in Russia, China and other countries accused of supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The sanctions are meant to punish companies that help Moscow acquire weapons for its war in Ukraine. 

They also target Russian government entities and companies involved in the country’s chemical and biological weapons programs.

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.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, the chemical chloropicrin is used both as a warfare agent and pesticide. If inhaled, it poses a health risk.

‘Today’s actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia’s war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it,’ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

The accusations and sanctions come a week after US President Joe Biden signed a much-delayed bill to provide new funding for Ukraine as Kyiv’s military struggles to hold back Russian advances.

‘Even as we’re throwing sand in the gears of Russia’s war machine, President (Joe) Biden’s recently-passed National Security Supplemental is providing badly-needed military, economic, and humanitarian support to bolster Ukraine’s courageous resistance,’ Yellen said.

‘Combined, our support for Ukraine and our relentless targeting of Russia’s military capacity is giving Ukraine a critical leg-up on the battlefield.’

As part of the measures, the State Department blacklisted additional individuals and companies involved in Moscow’s energy, mining and metals sectors.

The sanctions also targeted individuals connected to the death of Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny who died in a Siberian prison in February.

US intelligence officials have since determined that Russia likely did not order the death of the dissident Putin-critic, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found ‘no smoking gun’ that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny’s death.

Navalny’s death, sparking protests nationwide, came shortly before the Russian president’s reelection in March.

Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that ‘there is no doubt’ that his death ‘was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.’

Ukrainian soldiers prepare a handmade small MLRS for firing toward Russian troops near a front line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 27, 2024

Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armored personnel carrier in a field near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, on April 27, 2024

The almost 300 targets sanctioned included dozens of actors accused of enabling Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad, the Treasury said.

Some of those targeted were based in countries such as China that have faced increasing pressure from Washington over support for Russia during its 15-month invasion of Ukraine.

‘This support enables Russia to continue its war against Ukraine and poses a significant threat to international security,’ the Treasury Department said.

Other than China, targeted non-Russian entities were located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

These companies ‘enable Russia to acquire desperately-needed technology and equipment from abroad,’ the statement said.