The trenches were bleak. Ihor, a Ukrainian commander, shared his experiences of the grueling winter battles, with Ukrainian drones outnumbering Russian ones, only for them to be countered by a wave of newly enlisted and well-equipped Russian troops, supported by armor and often boosted with drug cocktails.
Ihor described the new threat they faced: chemical warfare. A Ukrainian combat medic reported nine incidents during the past few weeks where Russian drones dropped incendiary, caustic gas, resulting in human deaths. Soldiers claimed this was done to instigate panic, followed by conventional fire or further drone attacks.
A Ukrainian intelligence officer said that the gas used was CS, or tear gas. CS gas, also known as tear gas, temporarily incapacitates people by irritating eyes, nose, mouth, lungs, and skin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use of this agent is prohibited in warfare by the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Despite frequent reports, the relentless use of chemical weapons seemed unusually persistent near Orichiv. Two soldiers who barely survived the gas attacks presented CNN with medical reports indicating poisoning. "First I saw smoke", one soldier recalled. "We rushed out of the trench. Suddenly, the gas caught fire. The trench burst into flames. The gas would burn your eyes, make you choke and instantly reach your throat. We had barely a second!"
A second soldier added: "You'd feel two waves and then you'd have no air left."
The soldiers spoke of facial burns and swelling. Their faces were still red, signs of their ordeal.
The alleged chemical weapon use on the battlefield is yet another sign of Russia's cruelty and deceit as it renews its fight for lost territory. Ukraine had hoped to make significant progress towards the Azov Sea during the summer, now it must only defend its modest gains.
"Great changes are taking place", said Ihor. "(The Russians) began to build their own drone attack units and have been numerically superior. But they used them in a crude and outrageous manner, like a child's toy."
Several Ukrainian soldiers said the number of Russians currently at the front was concerning. "More meat means more beef", said Ihor, echoing the term 'beef grinder,' used by Russian generals to send human waves to the front without concern for their own losses, but sometimes with success.
In a small bunker near the front line, Ihor's Ukrainian drone team attempted to disrupt Russian movement at a nearby intersection. Two Russian soldiers emerged from a trench, carrying what appeared to be supply crates. The drone operator retracted the drone to avoid discovery and launched a mortar attack, which seemed to quickly dampen their effort. However, the drone malfunctioned, likely due to Russian interference, in what has become a common challenge for these operators. Soldiers told CNN that extreme cold and battery life constraints pose significant challenges, putting their limited vehicles at risk from Russian drone attacks. Amid the U.S. and EU's financial crisis in Ukraine, a series of gritty drone footage showed barren tree lines, wounded Russian soldiers, and brutal scenes with no apparent human presence. "Without support we won't succeed", Ihor said.
References:
