THE SQUIZ

The global chemical weapons watchdog is investigating whether Russia deployed chemical weapons in a recent attack in Ukraine’s southern port city of Mariupol in what would amount to a major escalation in war. They’re the bombs/devices that weaponise toxic chemicals to deliberately harm or kill people and they are banned from use by United Nations conventions. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it’s concerned about the reports out of Ukraine, and our Foreign Minister Marise Payne says if confirmed, it would be “a further wholesale breach of international law.”

IS IT HAPPENING IN UKRAINE?

Ukraine fighters say Russian forces had dropped a “poisonous substance” during a drone attack on Mariupol on Monday. Some suffered from shortness of breath, and others described a “sweet-tasting” white smoke that followed an explosion. Another said he collapsed with “cotton legs”. Ukrainian officials are investigating if phosphorus ammunition was been used. Phosphorus can be used as a component in relatively harmless things like flares or matches, and it can be packaged up with other chemicals as a weapon to penetrate the body and burn. The incident came hours after spokesman Eduard Basurin from the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic urged Moscow to bring in “chemical forces” to the city to “smoke out the moles”. The Russian assault on Mariupol continues and it’s thought that 21,000 civilians have been killed.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS AREN’T USED OFTEN, RIGHT?

Actually, it only happened a few years ago in Syria. In 2013, the US said it had “high confidence” that Syria’s government led by Bashar al-Assad allowed its troops to attack opposition forces with these banned weapons. One of the worst attacks in the opposition-controlled Damascus suburb of Ghouta resulted in scores of dead and gruesome injuries. Despite then-President Barack Obama declaring that the use of chemical weapons would breach his “red line” and result in a counterattack by America, the war-weary administration never followed through. But the Russians got involved in 2015 in support of Assad. This time around, Western nations have pledged to take firm action against Russia if chemical weapons are used, but none have outlined what that would look like. Cue plenty of concern, particularly as Russia regroups for a big new offensive in the country’s east.