Russia accuses Kyiv of poisoning a few of its troopers in Ukraine

Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine on Saturday of poisoning a few of its servicemen within the Russian-controlled a part of Ukraine’s southeastern area of Zaporizhzhia in late July.

An adviser to Ukraine’s inside ministry mentioned in response that the alleged poisoning may have been brought on by Russian forces consuming expired canned meat.

The Russian defence ministry mentioned plenty of Russian servicemen had been taken to a army hospital with indicators of significant poisoning on July 31. Tests confirmed a poisonous substance, botulinum toxin kind B, of their our bodies, it mentioned.

“On the fact of chemical terrorism sanctioned by the (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy regime, Russia is preparing supporting evidence with the results of all the analyses,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.

It didn’t say what number of servicemen had suffered or what their situation was now. It didn’t say what the “supporting evidence” was.

Botulinum toxin kind B is a neurotoxin that may trigger botulism when ingested in beforehand contaminated meals merchandise, however it may possibly even have medical makes use of.

Ukraine’s defence ministry didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark, however inside ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko commented on the Russian allegation on the Telegram messaging app.

“The department (Russian defence ministry) does not clarify whether the poisoning could have been caused by expired canned meat, in which botulinum toxin is often found. Overdue rations have been massively complained about by the occupying forces since the first days of the invasion of Ukraine,” he mentioned.

The Russian defence ministry mentioned it was conducting a further investigation into an incident wherein Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-installed administration in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson area, was taken in poor health.

Saldo, a former mayor of the town of Kherson who was appointed to go the area of the identical title when Russian troops overran it in early March, fell in poor health in early August.

Russia says its “special military operation” launched on Feb. 24 is aimed toward demilitarizing Ukraine and defending Russian audio system on what President Vladimir Putin referred to as historic Russian land.

Ukraine and Western nations view it as an unprovoked conflict of conquest aimed toward wiping out Ukraine’s nationwide id.