A Ukrainian MP has claimed the Russian army is being handed chemical weapon antidotes in anticipation of chemical warfare.
Speaking to GB News today (Friday 25th March) Inna Sovsun said the move is thought to be indicative of potential chemical weapons being used by Russia as the war in Ukraine wages on.
Describing Putin as the “Hitler of our times” she told presenter Tom Harwood: “Chemical warfare is something that many in Ukraine fear. We are extremely concerned, we are hearing news from the Russian side that Russian soldiers have been provided with the antidotes against some chemical weapons. For us that is a clear sign that they recognise that their soldiers might be in danger from chemical weapon attack. We are of course extremely concerned and we want the whole world to realise that this is the real danger.
“There were some promises made in the NATO summit and some claims that if Putin tries to use them then there will be a very tough response. I think it is important for the West to understand that promising a tough response is not the same as delivering a tough response. So far, Putin understands that the West did not deliver a very tough response to all the atrocities that he has started here in Ukraine. I am concerned that Putin will not take those threats of response seriously given the history of the western response to the War in Ukraine so far.
“We are still very disappointed that we didn’t get enough help in terms of establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. We are not asking for NATO troops on the ground, we are just asking for the jets and the air defence system so that we can cover our skies ourselves but even that was not provided.
“I am concerned that Putin will realise that this can be just a game on the western side and will not take those threats seriously given the history of the reaction to the war so far.”
Speaking from Kyiv she said: “The bombs are very real. Literally five minutes before I came on air I could hear the bombs from my home. It is some distance away but is still very close.”
“We are seeing that the Ukrainian army is doing a good job pushing the Russians from the city so they’re not as close as they were one week or even two weeks ago, which is giving us hope here in Kyiv. The situation in many other cities is completely different, like Mariupol, and in some it’s a disaster compared to what’s happening here. Here in Kyiv, I would say the general feeling is better than it was two or three weeks ago.”
Whilst the Russian army is larger, Sovsun described the united front from many across Ukraine. She said: “The numbers of the Russian army are of course much bigger, but Putin is not just fighting against the Ukrainian army here. He is actually fighting against the whole of the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian army is not that big but many people – thousands – have signed up for territorial defence which is separate from the army, and I think there’s been more than 100,000 who have signed up for that. We also have the national guard, the national police and the special forces who are fighting together. All people are resistant and that is something that Putin did not envision, because in his understanding of the world people do not matter. Here in Ukraine we are proving that people matter, they have a voice and they are willing to take their part to resist the Russians.”
Whilst diplomatic talks are ongoing in a bid to end the fighting, Sovsun is cynical of if they will work or help to stop the fighting: “In my view, we need to be talking [to Russia] but I am pessimistic about whether this will work. I believe the solution will be military unfortunately. I am afraid that this is the only way to proceed. In order to have a diplomatic solution and make a diplomatic deal, you need to trust your counterpart and I think everyone in the world realises that not a single person can trust what Putin promises to do because we have heard just a week before he attacked us he was saying that he is not planning to attack Ukraine. Just 10 days ago his foreign minister said that they did not attack Ukraine. When they are lying all the time, making any deals with them is in the least to say naive and that is why I’m not very hopeful in achieving results. However we do get some results from those talks, particularly in terms of humanitarian corridors in some of the cities. Unfortunately not from Mariupol but at least from some of the cities, and that is probably the only practical result of the talks taking place.
“Other than that, the demands that Putin is claiming are unreasonable and we would never accept and making a deal with an enemy is like making a deal between Hitler and the jews in the beginning of world war two. It’s clear from the historical perspective that this would never have been possible, so I think the world needs to realise that what we are dealing with is the Hitler of our times.
