The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said, in a statement on allegations of use of toxic chemicals as weapons during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that both sides' accusations are insufficiently substantiated.

"The Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been monitoring the situation on the territory of Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022 in relation to allegations of use of toxic chemicals as weapons. Both the Russian Federation and Ukraine have accused one another and reported allegations of use of chemical weapons to the Organization. […] The information provided to the Organization so far by both sides, together with the information available to the Secretariat, is insufficiently substantiated," it said.

The OPCW emphasized that still, the situation remains volatile and extremely concerning regarding the possible re-emergence of use of toxic chemicals as weapons.

As reported, on May 1, the United States announced that it had imposed new measures on the Russian Federation for its full-scale war and use of chemical weapons against Ukraine, including for its use of chloropicrin, a chemical belonging to Schedule 3 of the Convention, as well as riot control agents as a method of warfare.

For its part, the Russian Federation has denied making use of such weapons.

The OPCW recalled that, to conduct any activities pertaining to allegations of use of toxic chemicals as weapons, the Secretariat of the OPCW would need to be formally seized of a request to conduct such activity by States Parties.

"So far, the Secretariat has not received any such request for action," it said.