Facts about the use of chemical weapons. Types of chemical weapons, the history of their occurrence and destruction. New war crimes page

A hundred years have passed since the end of the First World War, remembered mainly for the horrors of the mass use of chemical weapons. Its colossal reserves, which remained after the war and multiplied many times in the interwar period, should have led to an apocalypse in the Second. But it passed. Although there were still local cases of the use of chemical weapons. Real plans for its massive use by Germany and Great Britain were made public. Probably, there were such plans in the USSR with the USA, but nothing is known for certain about them. We will tell you all about this in this article.

However, in the beginning, let us recall what a chemical weapon is. This is a weapon of mass destruction, the action of which is based on the toxic properties of poisonous substances (S). Chemical weapons are classified according to the following characteristics:

- the nature of the physiological effects of OM on the human body;

- tactical purpose;

- the speed of the oncoming impact;

- resistance of the used agent;

— means and methods of application.

According to the nature of the physiological effects on the human body, six main types of toxic substances are distinguished:

- Nerve agents that affect the nervous system and cause death. These agents include sarin, soman, tabun, and V-gases.

- Agents of blistering action, causing damage mainly through the skin, and when applied in the form of aerosols and vapors - also through the respiratory system. The main OM of this group are mustard gas and lewisite.

- OS of general toxic action, which, getting into the body, disrupt the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. This is an instantaneous OV. These include hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride.

- Asphyxiating agents, affecting mainly the lungs. The main OMs are phosgene and diphosgene.

- OV of psychochemical action, capable of incapacitating the enemy's manpower for some time. These agents, acting on the central nervous system, disrupt the normal mental activity of a person or cause such disorders as temporary blindness, deafness, a sense of fear, and limitation of motor functions. Poisoning with these substances in doses that cause mental disorders does not lead to death. OBs from this group are quinuclidyl-3-benzilate (BZ) and lysergic acid diethylamide.

— OV irritating action. These are fast-acting agents that stop their action after leaving the infected area, and the signs of poisoning disappear after 1-10 minutes. This group of agents includes lachrymal substances that cause profuse lacrimation, and sneezing substances that irritate the respiratory tract.

According to the tactical classification, toxic substances are divided into groups according to their combat purpose: lethal and temporarily incapacitating manpower. According to the speed of exposure, high-speed and slow-acting agents are distinguished. Depending on the duration of the preservation of the damaging ability, agents are divided into substances of short-term action and long-term action.

Substances are delivered to the place of their application: artillery shells, rockets, mines, aerial bombs, gas cannons, balloon gas launch systems, VAPs (pouring aviation devices), grenades, checkers.

The history of combat OV has more than one hundred years. Various chemical compounds were used to poison enemy soldiers or temporarily disable them. Most often, such methods were used during the siege of fortresses, since it is not very convenient to use poisonous substances during a maneuver war. However, of course, there was no need to talk about any massive use of toxic substances. Chemical weapons began to be considered by generals as one of the means of warfare only after poisonous substances began to be obtained in industrial quantities and they learned how to store them safely.

It also required certain changes in the psychology of the military: back in the 19th century, poisoning your opponents like rats was considered an ignoble and unworthy deed. The use of sulfur dioxide as a chemical warfare agent by British Admiral Thomas Gokhran was met with indignation by the British military elite. Curiously, chemical weapons became banned even before the start of mass use. In 1899, the Hague Convention was adopted, it spoke about the prohibition of weapons that use strangulation or poisoning to defeat the enemy. However, this convention did not prevent either the Germans or the rest of the participants in the First World War (including Russia) from massively using poison gases.

So, Germany was the first to violate the existing agreements and, first, in the small Bolimovsky battle of 1915, and then in the second battle near the town of Ypres, it used its chemical weapons. On the eve of the planned offensive, German troops installed more than 120 batteries equipped with gas cylinders along the front. These actions were carried out late at night, secret from enemy intelligence, which naturally knew about the impending breakthrough, but neither the British nor the French had any idea about the forces with which it was supposed to be carried out. In the early morning of April 22, the offensive began not with a cannonade characteristic of this, but with the fact that the Allied troops suddenly saw green fog crawling towards them from the side where the German fortifications were supposed to be located. At that time, ordinary masks were the only means of chemical protection, but due to the complete surprise of such an attack, most of the soldiers did not have them. The first ranks of the French and English detachments literally fell down dead. Despite the fact that the chlorine-based gas used by the Germans, later called mustard gas, mainly spread at a height of 1-2 meters above the ground, its amount was enough to hit more than 15 thousand people, and among them were not only the British and French, but also the Germans . At one moment, the wind blew on the positions of the German army, as a result of which many soldiers who were not wearing protective masks were injured. While the gas corroded the eyes and suffocated the enemy soldiers, the Germans, dressed in protective suits, followed him and finished off the unconscious people. The army of the French and British fled, the soldiers, ignoring the orders of the commanders, abandoned their positions without having time to fire a single shot, in fact, the Germans got not only the fortified area, but also most of the abandoned provisions and weapons. To date, the use of mustard gas in the Battle of Ypres is recognized as one of the most inhuman actions in world history, as a result of which more than 5 thousand people died, while the rest of the survivors who received a different dose of deadly poison remained crippled for life.

Already after the Vietnam War, scientists have identified another detrimental effect of the effects of OM on the human body. Quite often, those affected by chemical weapons gave inferior offspring, i.e. freaks were born in both the first and second generations.

Thus, Pandora's box was opened, and the howling countries began to poison each other everywhere with toxic substances, although the effectiveness of their action hardly exceeded the mortality from artillery fire. The possibility of application was extremely dependent on the weather, direction and strength of the wind. In some cases, suitable conditions for massive use had to be expected for weeks. When chemical weapons were used during offensives, the side using them itself suffered losses from its own chemical weapons. For these reasons, the belligerents mutually "quietly renounced the use of weapons of mass destruction" and in subsequent wars, the massive military use of chemical weapons was no longer observed. An interesting fact is that among those injured as a result of the use of chemical agents was Adolf Hitler, who was poisoned by English gases. In total, during the First World War, about 1.3 million people suffered from the use of chemical agents, of which about 100 thousand died.

In the interwar years, chemicals were periodically used to destroy certain nationalities and suppress rebellions. Thus, the Soviet government of Lenin used poison gas in 1920 during the assault on the village of Gimry (Dagestan). In 1921, he poisoned the peasants during the Tambov uprising. The order, signed by military commanders Tukhachevsky and Antonov-Ovseenko, read: “The forests in which the bandits are hiding must be cleared with poison gas. This must be carefully calculated so that a layer of gas penetrates into the forests and kills everything hiding there.” In 1924, the Romanian army used OV during the suppression of the Tatarbunary uprising in Ukraine. During the Rif War in Spanish Morocco from 1921-1927, combined Spanish and French troops dropped mustard gas bombs in an attempt to put down a Berber uprising.

In 1925, 16 countries of the world with the greatest military potential signed the Geneva Protocol, thereby pledging never again to use gas in military operations. Notably, while the United States delegation, led by the President, signed the Protocol, it languished in the US Senate until 1975, when it was finally ratified.

In violation of the Geneva Protocol, Italy used mustard gas against Senussi forces in Libya. Poison gas was used against the Libyans as early as January 1928. And in 1935, Italy used mustard gas against the Ethiopians during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The chemical weapons dropped by military aircraft "proved to be very effective" and were used "on a massive scale against civilians and troops, and for pollution and water supply." The use of OV continued until March 1939. By some estimates, up to one-third of Ethiopian war casualties were caused by chemical weapons.

It is not clear how the League of Nations behaved in this situation, people were dying from the most barbaric weapons, and she was silent, as if encouraging him to continue to use it. Perhaps for this reason, in 1937, Japan began to use tear gas in hostilities: the Chinese city of Woqu was bombed - about 1,000 bombs were dropped on the ground. Later, the Japanese detonated 2,500 chemical shells during the Battle of Dingxiang. Authorized by Japanese Emperor Hirohito, toxic gas was used during the 1938 Battle of Wuhan. It was also used during the invasion of Changde. In 1939, mustard gas was used against both Kuomintang and Communist Chinese troops. They did not stop there and continued to use chemical weapons until the final defeat in the war.

The Japanese army was armed with up to ten types of chemical warfare agents - phosgene, mustard gas, lewisite and others. It is noteworthy that in 1933, immediately after the Nazis came to power, Japan secretly purchased equipment for the production of mustard gas from Germany and began to produce it in Hiroshima Prefecture. Subsequently, military chemical plants appeared in other cities of Japan, and then in China, where a special school was also organized for the training of specialized military units operating in China.

It should be noted that chemical weapons were tested on living prisoners in the infamous "731" and "516" detachments. Due to fear of retribution, however, these weapons were never used against Western nations. Asian psychology did not allow "bullying" against the powers that be. According to various estimates, the Japanese used OV more than 2 thousand times. In total, about 90 thousand Chinese soldiers died from the use of Japanese chemicals, there were civilian casualties, but they were not counted.

It should be noted that by the beginning of the Second World War, Great Britain, Germany, the USSR and the USA had very significant stocks of various chemical warfare agents filled into ammunition. In addition, each country was actively preparing not only to use its own weapons, but also developed active protection against them, if used by the enemy.

Ideas about the role of chemical weapons in the course of warfare were mainly based on an analysis of the experience of their use in operations in 1917–1918. Artillery remained the main means of using explosive weapons to destroy the enemy's location to a depth of 6 km. Beyond this limit, the use of chemical weapons was assigned to aviation. Artillery was used to infect the area with persistent agents such as mustard gas and to exhaust the enemy with irritating agents. For the use of chemical weapons in the armies of the leading countries, chemical troops were created that were armed with chemical mortars, gas launchers, gas cylinders, smoke devices, ground contamination devices, chemical land mines and mechanized means for degassing the area ... However, let's return to the chemical weapons of individual countries.

The first known case of the use of agents in World War II occurred on September 8, 1939, during the Wehrmacht's invasion of Poland, when a Polish battery fired a battalion of German chasseurs trying to capture the bridge with poison mines. It is not known how effectively the Wehrmacht soldiers used gas masks, but their losses in this incident amounted to 15 people.

After the "evacuation" from Dunkirk (May 26 - June 4, 1940) in England there was no equipment or weapons for the land army - everything was abandoned on the French coast. In total, 2,472 artillery pieces, almost 65,000 vehicles, 20,000 motorcycles, 68,000 tons of ammunition, 147,000 tons of fuel and 377,000 tons of equipment and military equipment, 8,000 machine guns and about 90,000 rifles, including all heavy weapons and transport of 9 British divisions. And although the Wehrmacht did not have the opportunity to force the English Channel and finish off the British on the island, it seemed to the latter in fear that this would happen any day. Therefore, Great Britain was preparing for the last battle with all its might and means.

On June 15, 1940, the Chief of the Imperial Staff, Sir John Dill, proposed the use of chemical weapons on the coast, during the German landing. Such actions could significantly slow down the advance of the landing force into the interior of the island. It was supposed to spray mustard gas from special tank trucks. Other types of OM were recommended to be used from the air, and with the help of special throwing devices, which were buried on the coast by several thousand.

Sir John Dill attached detailed instructions for the use of each type of agent and calculations of the effectiveness of their use to his note. He also mentioned possible casualties among his civilian population. The British industry increased the production of OV, and the Germans were dragging everything out with the landing. When the supply of OM was significantly increased, and military equipment appeared in Britain under Lend-Lease, incl. and a huge number of bombers, by 1941 the concept of using chemical weapons had changed. Now they were preparing to use it exclusively from the air with the help of aerial bombs. This plan was valid until January 1942, when the British command already ruled out an attack on the island from the sea. Since that time, the OV was planned to be used already in German cities if Germany had used chemical weapons. And although after the start of shelling the UK with rockets, many parliamentarians advocated the use of OV in response, Churchill categorically rejected such proposals, arguing that this weapon is applicable only in cases of mortal danger. However, the production of OV in England continued until 1945.

Since the end of 1941, Soviet intelligence began to receive data on an increase in the production of OM in Germany. In 1942, there was reliable intelligence about the mass deployment of special chemical weapons, about their intensive training. In February-March 1942, troops on the Eastern Front began to receive new and improved gas masks and anti-algae suits, stockpiles of chemical agents (shells and aerial bombs), and chemical units began to be transferred closer to the front. Such parts were found in the cities of Krasnogvardeysk, Priluki, Nezhin, Kharkov, Taganrog. In anti-tank units, chemical training was intensively carried out. Each company had a non-commissioned officer as a chemical instructor. The headquarters of the Civil Code was sure that in the spring Hitler intended to use chemical weapons. The Stavka also knew that Germany had developed new types of OM, against which the gas masks in service were powerless. There was no time for the production of a new, modeled on the German gas mask of 1941. And the Germans at that time produced 2.3 million pieces. per month. Thus, the Red Army turned out to be defenseless against the German OVs.

Stalin could have made an official statement about a retaliatory chemical attack. However, it could hardly have stopped Hitler: the troops were more or less protected, and the territory of Germany was not to be reached.

Moscow decided to turn to Churchill for help, who understood that if chemical weapons were used against the USSR, Hitler would later be able to use them against Great Britain. After consultations with Stalin, on May 12, 1942, Churchill, speaking on the radio, said that “... England will consider the use of poisonous gases against the USSR by Germany or Finland in the same way as if this attack were carried out against England itself, and that England will respond to this with the use of gases against the cities of Germany ... ".

It is not known what Churchill would actually have done, but already on May 14, 1942, one of the residents of Soviet intelligence, who had a source in Germany, reported to the Center: “... The German civilian population was greatly impressed by Churchill’s speech about the use of gases against Germany in if the Germans use them on the Eastern Front. In German cities, there are very few reliable gas shelters that can cover no more than 40% of the population ... According to German experts, in the event of a retaliatory strike, about 60% of the German population would die from British gas bombs. In any case, Hitler did not in practice check whether Churchill was bluffing or not, since he saw the results of conventional Allied bombing in German cities. The order for the massive use of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front was never issued. Moreover, remembering Churchill's statement, after the defeat at the Kursk Bulge, stockpiles of chemical weapons were taken out from the eastern front, because Hitler feared that some general, driven to despair by defeats, might give the command to use chemical weapons.

Despite the fact that Hitler was no longer going to use chemical weapons, Stalin was really scared, and until the end of the war did not rule out chemical attacks. A special department (GVKhU) was created as part of the Red Army, appropriate equipment for detecting VO was developed, decontamination and degassing techniques appeared ... The seriousness of Stalin's attitude to chemical protection was determined by a secret order issued on January 11, 1943, in which commanders threatened with a military tribunal.

At the same time, having abandoned the massive use of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front, the Germans did not hesitate to use them on a local scale on the Black Sea coast. So, gas was used in the battles for Sevastopol, Odessa, Kerch. Only in the Adzhimushkay catacombs about 3 thousand people were poisoned. It was planned to use OV in the battles for the Caucasus. In February 1943, German troops received two carloads of antidotes for toxins. But the Nazis were quickly driven away from the mountains.

The Nazis did not disdain to use chemical agents in concentration camps, where they used carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide (including Zyklon B) to kill millions of prisoners.

After the Allied invasion of Italy, the Germans also withdrew chemical weapons from the front, relocating them to Normandy to defend the Atlantic Wall. When interrogated by Goering why nerve gas was not used in Normandy, he replied that many horses were used to supply the army, and the production of appropriate gas masks for them was not established. It turns out that German horses saved thousands of Allied soldiers, although the veracity of this explanation is highly doubtful.

By the end of the war, for two and a half years of production at the plant in Dürchfurt, Germany had accumulated 12,000 tons of the latest nerve agents - Tabun. 10 thousand tons were loaded into aerial bombs, 2 thousand into artillery shells. The personnel of the plant, in order not to give out the formulation of OV, was destroyed. However, the Red Army managed to capture the ammunition and production and take it to the territory of the USSR. As a result, the Allies were forced to unleash a whole world-wide hunt for German specialists and scientists in the field of chemical agents in order to fill the gap in their chemical arsenals. Thus began the "two worlds" race for chemical weapons, which lasted for decades, in parallel with nuclear weapons.

Only in 1945 did the United States put into service for the M9 and M9A1 Bazooka rocket-propelled grenade launchers M26 warheads with combat agents - cyanogen chloride. They were intended for use against Japanese soldiers who had settled in caves and bunkers. It was believed that there was no protection against this gas, but in combat conditions, the agents were never used.

Summing up the topic of chemical weapons, we note that its mass use was not allowed due to several factors: fear of a retaliatory strike, low efficiency of use, dependence of use on weather factors. However, during the pre-war years and during the war, colossal stocks of OM were accumulated. So the reserves of mustard gas (mustard gas) in Britain amounted to 40.4 thousand tons, in Germany - 27.6 thousand tons, in the USSR - 77.4 thousand tons, in the USA - 87 thousand tons. can be judged by the fact that the minimum dose that causes the formation of abscesses on the skin is 0.1 mg / cm². There is no antidote for mustard gas poisoning. A gas mask and OZK lose their protective functions after 40 minutes, being in the affected area.

Regrettably, numerous conventions banning chemical weapons are constantly violated. The first post-war use of OV was recorded already in 1957 in Vietnam, i.e. 12 years after the end of World War II. And then the gaps in the years of ignoring it become smaller and smaller. It seems that humanity has firmly embarked on the path of self-destruction.

Based on materials from sites: https://ru.wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org; https://thequestion.ru; http://supotnitskiy.ru; https://topwar.ru; http://magspace.ru; https://news.rambler.ru; http://www.publy.ru; http://www.mk.ru; http://www.warandpeace.ru; https://www.sciencehistory.org http://www.abc.net.au; http://pillboxes-suffolk.webeden.co.uk.

In the early April morning of 1915, a light breeze blew from the side of the German positions that opposed the line of defense of the Entente troops twenty kilometers from the city of Ypres (Belgium). Together with him, a dense yellowish-green cloud suddenly appeared in the direction of the Allied trenches. At that moment, few people knew that it was the breath of death, and, in the stingy language of front-line reports, the first use of chemical weapons on the Western Front.

Tears before death

To be absolutely precise, the use of chemical weapons began in 1914, and the French came up with this disastrous initiative. But then ethyl bromoacetate, which belongs to the group of chemicals of an irritant effect, and not a lethal one, was put into use. They were filled with 26-mm grenades, which fired at the German trenches. When the supply of this gas came to an end, it was replaced with chloroacetone, similar in effect.

In response to this, the Germans, who also did not consider themselves obliged to comply with the generally accepted legal norms enshrined in the Hague Convention, in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, held in October of the same year, fired at the British with shells filled with a chemical irritant. However, at that time they failed to reach its dangerous concentration.

Thus, in April 1915, there was not the first case of the use of chemical weapons, but, unlike the previous ones, the lethal chlorine gas was used to destroy the enemy's manpower. The result of the attack was stunning. One hundred and eighty tons of sprayed killed five thousand soldiers of the allied forces and another ten thousand became disabled as a result of the resulting poisoning. By the way, the Germans themselves suffered. The death-bearing cloud touched their position with its edge, the defenders of which were not fully provided with gas masks. In the history of the war, this episode was designated "a black day at Ypres."

Further use of chemical weapons in World War I

Wanting to build on their success, the Germans repeated a chemical attack in the Warsaw region a week later, this time against the Russian army. And here death got a plentiful harvest - more than a thousand two hundred killed and several thousand left crippled. Naturally, the Entente countries tried to protest against such a gross violation of the principles of international law, but Berlin cynically declared that the 1896 Hague Convention only mentions poisonous projectiles, and not gases per se. To them, to admit, they did not try to object - the war always crosses out the works of diplomats.

The specifics of that terrible war

As military historians have repeatedly emphasized, during the First World War, the tactics of positional actions were widely used, in which solid front lines were clearly marked, distinguished by stability, density of troops and high engineering and technical support.

This largely reduced the effectiveness of offensive operations, since both sides met with resistance from the powerful defense of the enemy. The only way out of the impasse could be an unconventional tactical solution, which was the first use of chemical weapons.

New war crimes page

The use of chemical weapons in World War I was a major innovation. The range of its influence on a person was very wide. As can be seen from the episodes of the First World War cited above, it ranged from harmful, which was caused by chloracetone, ethyl bromoacetate and a number of others that had an irritant effect, to deadly - phosgene, chlorine and mustard gas.

Despite the fact that statistics show the relatively limited lethal potential of the gas (of the total number of those affected - only 5% of deaths), the number of dead and maimed was enormous. This gives the right to assert that the first use of chemical weapons opened a new page of war crimes in the history of mankind.

In the later stages of the war, both sides were able to develop and put into use sufficiently effective means of protection against enemy chemical attacks. This made the use of poisonous substances less effective, and gradually led to the abandonment of their use. However, it was the period from 1914 to 1918 that went down in history as the "war of chemists", since the first use of chemical weapons in the world took place on its battlefields.

The tragedy of the defenders of the Osovets fortress

However, let us return to the chronicle of military operations of that period. At the beginning of May 1915, the Germans launched a target against the Russian units defending the Osovets fortress, located fifty kilometers from Bialystok (present-day Poland). According to eyewitnesses, after a long shelling with deadly substances, among which several of their types were used at once, all life was poisoned at a considerable distance.

Not only people and animals that fell into the shelling zone died, but all vegetation was destroyed. The leaves of the trees turned yellow and crumbled before our eyes, and the grass turned black and fell to the ground. The picture was truly apocalyptic and did not fit into the consciousness of a normal person.

But, of course, the defenders of the citadel suffered the most. Even those of them who escaped death, for the most part, received severe chemical burns and were terribly mutilated. It is no coincidence that their appearance terrified the enemy so much that the counterattack of the Russians, who eventually threw the enemy back from the fortress, entered the history of the war under the name “attack of the dead”.

Development and use of phosgene

The first use of chemical weapons revealed a significant number of their technical shortcomings, which were eliminated in 1915 by a group of French chemists led by Victor Grignard. The result of their research was a new generation of deadly gas - phosgene.

Absolutely colorless, in contrast to the greenish-yellow chlorine, it betrayed its presence only with a barely perceptible smell of moldy hay, which made it difficult to detect. Compared to its predecessor, the novelty had greater toxicity, but at the same time had certain disadvantages.

Symptoms of poisoning, and even the death of the victims, did not occur immediately, but a day after the gas entered the respiratory tract. This allowed the poisoned and often doomed soldiers to participate in hostilities for a long time. In addition, phosgene was very heavy, and to increase mobility it had to be mixed with the same chlorine. This infernal mixture was called the "White Star" by the Allies, since it was with this sign that the cylinders containing it were marked.

Devilish novelty

On the night of July 13, 1917, in the area of ​​the Belgian city of Ypres, which had already won notoriety, the Germans made the first use of a chemical weapon of skin-blister action. In the place of its debut, it became known as mustard gas. Its carriers were mines, which sprayed a yellow oily liquid when they exploded.

The use of mustard gas, like the use of chemical weapons in World War I in general, was another diabolical innovation. This "achievement of civilization" was created to damage the skin, as well as the respiratory and digestive organs. Neither soldier's uniforms, nor any types of civilian clothing saved from its impact. It penetrated through any fabric.

In those years, any reliable means of protection against its contact with the body were not yet produced, which made the use of mustard gas quite effective until the end of the war. Already the first use of this substance disabled two and a half thousand enemy soldiers and officers, of whom a significant number died.

Gas that does not creep on the ground

German chemists took up the development of mustard gas not by chance. The first use of chemical weapons on the Western Front showed that the substances used - chlorine and phosgene - had a common and very significant drawback. They were heavier than air, and therefore, in atomized form, they fell down, filling trenches and all kinds of depressions. The people who were in them were poisoned, but those who were on the hills at the time of the attack often remained unharmed.

It was necessary to invent a poison gas with a lower specific gravity and capable of hitting its victims at any level. They became mustard gas, which appeared in July 1917. It should be noted that British chemists quickly established its formula, and in 1918 launched a deadly weapon into production, but the truce that followed two months later prevented large-scale use. Europe breathed a sigh of relief - the First World War, which lasted four years, ended. The use of chemical weapons became irrelevant, and their development was temporarily stopped.

The beginning of the use of poisonous substances by the Russian army

The first case of the use of chemical weapons by the Russian army dates back to 1915, when, under the leadership of Lieutenant General V.N. Ipatiev, a program for the production of this type of weapon in Russia was successfully implemented. However, its use was then in the nature of technical tests and did not pursue tactical goals. Only a year later, as a result of work on the introduction into production of developments created in this area, it became possible to use them on the fronts.

The full-scale use of military developments that came out of domestic laboratories began in the summer of 1916 during the famous It is this event that makes it possible to determine the year of the first use of chemical weapons by the Russian army. It is known that during the period of the combat operation, artillery shells were used, filled with asphyxiating gas chloropicrin and poisonous - vensinite and phosgene. As is clear from the report sent to the Main Artillery Directorate, the use of chemical weapons rendered "a great service to the army."

The grim statistics of war

The first use of the chemical was a disastrous precedent. In subsequent years, its use not only expanded, but also underwent qualitative changes. Summing up the sad statistics of the four war years, historians state that during this period the warring parties produced at least 180 thousand tons of chemical weapons, of which at least 125 thousand tons were used. On the battlefields, 40 types of various poisonous substances were tested, which brought death and injury to 1,300,000 military personnel and civilians who found themselves in the zone of their application.

A lesson left unlearned

Did humanity learn a worthy lesson from the events of those years and did the date of the first use of chemical weapons become a black day in its history? Hardly. And today, despite international legal acts prohibiting the use of poisonous substances, the arsenals of most states of the world are full of their modern developments, and more and more often there are reports in the press about its use in various parts of the world. Humanity is stubbornly moving along the path of self-destruction, ignoring the bitter experience of previous generations.

Chemical weapon belongs to the category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Its action is based on the toxic properties of poisonous substances (OS) and means of application, which can be rockets, artillery shells, bombs, aviation pouring devices, etc. It is worth noting that various poisons and toxins have remained "point" weapons for thousands of years. Industrial technologies that appeared in the 20th century helped make them a means of mass destruction.

The ancients knew that certain substances and objects of their burning can be a mortal danger. Scientists have suggested that the ancient Persians were the first to use chemical weapons against their enemies. Simon James, a British archaeologist at the University of Leicester, discovered that Persian troops used poison gases during the siege of the city of Dura in eastern Syria as early as the 3rd century BC. The city was occupied by Roman troops. Simon James' theory was based on the study of the remains of 20 Roman soldiers that were found at the base of the city wall.

According to the archaeologist's theory, the Persians used tunnels under the walls to capture Dur. At the same time, the Romans dug their own tunnels to attack the besiegers. At that moment, when the Roman soldiers entered the tunnel, the Persians simply set fire to the bitumen and sulfur crystals, the result was the formation of thick poisonous smoke. After a few seconds, the Roman soldiers lost consciousness, and after a few minutes they died. Archaeological findings at Dura tell us that the Persians were no less skilled at besieging fortresses than the Romans, and used even the most brutal methods, says Dr. James.

However, the real "finest hour" for chemical weapons was the First World War. On April 22, 1915, for the first time in the 20th century, German troops used chemical weapons to destroy enemy soldiers. In just 8 minutes, they fired 5730 cylinders at the Anglo-French troops opposing them, which contained 180 tons of chlorine. A greenish cloud silently covered the enemy positions.

As a result of this chemical attack, about 5 thousand people died right on the spot, another 10 thousand people received serious injuries to their eyes, lungs and other internal organs. This chemical attack has forever gone down in the history of wars as "a rainy day at Ypres." During the years of the First World War, German troops used poison gases more than 50 times, the French - 20 times, the British - 150 times.

In the Russian Empire, the construction of factories that could produce chemical weapons began only in August 1915. However, in the Soviet Union much more attention was paid to this type of weapon. As a result, by 1990 our country had the world's largest reserves of organic matter (more than 39,000 tons). Most of these chemical warfare agents were mustard gas, lewisite, a mixture of mustard and lewisite, soman, sarin, and VX.

In 1993, the Russian Federation signed and in 1997 ratified the CWC - the Chemical Weapons Convention. Since then, Russia has been in the process of systematic destruction of the accumulated OM over many years. The deadlines for the complete destruction of stockpiles of Russian chemical weapons have been repeatedly postponed. According to experts, it can be completely destroyed no earlier than 2017-2019.

Ban

There have been several attempts to ban chemical weapons. The first time this happened was in 1899. Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1899 spoke of the prohibition of the use of ammunition, the sole purpose of which is to poison enemy personnel. However, the presence of this ban did not affect the use of chemical weapons during the First World War.

The second time chemical weapons were banned by the 1925 Geneva Protocol. But the Geneva Convention of 1925 failed to stop the use of chemical weapons.

So, in 1938, Japan repeatedly used mustard gas and other toxic substances during the war in China. As a result of the use of chemical weapons by the Japanese troops, at least 50 thousand people died. Subsequently, chemical weapons were repeatedly used in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, and both sides of the conflict used them.

Finally, the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction became the third document prohibiting the use of chemical weapons. The Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997. It was she who became the first truly successful.

By July 2010, 60% of all stocks of existing chemical weapons had been destroyed on the planet.
As of January 2012, 188 countries of the world have signed this convention.

However, the existence of this convention did not put an end to the use of chemical weapons. In 2013, during the civil war that unfolded in Syria, several cases of the use of poisonous substances were recorded. Under pressure from the UN, the Syrian leadership was forced to accept the 1997 convention. The destruction of existing stocks of Syrian chemical weapons (approximately 1,300 tons) was taken up by Russia and the United States.

Chemical weapons (CW) were also used by terrorists. The most famous CW attack was the 1995 Tokyo subway gas attack. The terrorist attack was organized by the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyo, which used sarin for its own purposes. As a result of this terrorist attack, 12 people were killed and more than 5,000 people were injured.

Chemical weapon

It is worth noting that for a long time various toxic substances were not seriously considered by the military as one of the means of warfare. The situation changed only after it became possible to manufacture and store them for purposes sufficient for war.

It can also be noted that chemical weapons are the only weapons of mass destruction that have been tried to be banned even before they were used. However, as in the case of other types of WMD, this did not stop anyone. As a result, a chemical attack carried out by the Germans on April 22, 1915 near the city of Ypres and the rapid development of various poisonous substances in the 20th century. It was the Ypres attack that practically marked the birthday of chemical weapons.

The most massive chemical weapons were used during the First World War. In total, by the end of the war, about 180 thousand tons of various OVs were produced. And the total losses from the use of chemical weapons by the parties to the conflict are estimated at 1.3 million people, of which about 100 thousand people died.

The use of various weapons during the First World War was the first recorded violation of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907. At the same time, the United States refused to support the 1899 Hague Conference. While Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Japan agreed with the declaration of 1899, and in 1907 Great Britain joined them.

The result of these declarations was that the parties agreed not to use nerve and asphyxiant gases for military purposes. At the same time, already on October 27, 1914, Germany used ammunition that was equipped with shrapnel mixed with an irritating powder. At the same time, the Germans referred to the exact wording of the declaration (the use of ammunition was prohibited, the only purpose of which is to poison the enemy’s manpower), motivating their actions by the fact that this use was not the only purpose of this shelling. The same applies to the use of non-lethal tear gas, which was used by France and Germany in the second half of 1914.

In just 4 years of the conflict, chemical weapons have been significantly improved. Mixtures of chlorine with chloropicrin or with phosgene began to be used. Later, hydrocyanic acid, diphenylchlorarsine, and arsenic trichloride were used. The British invented gas cannons that could fire mines filled with poisonous fillings.

The Germans used the first blister agent synthesized back in 1822, spraying it on July 12, 1917 in the area of ​​the same ill-fated Ypres. The poisonous substance was used against the Anglo-French troops. It was called "mustard gas" after the name of the river, and the British also called it "mustard gas" because of its specific smell. During the implementation of the famous Brusilov breakthrough in June 1916, Russian troops suppressed enemy artillery batteries with shells equipped with phosgene and chloropicrin.

In the period between the two world wars, all the leading powers of the world carried out active development in the field of creating chemical weapons. So the Americans received a colleague of mustard gas according to the method of destruction, a new poisonous substance was called lewisite. In Nazi Germany, during the search for an insecticide, the first organophosphorus poisonous substance was created, called tabun. Work in this direction did not stop after the Second World War, when one of the deadliest substances on the planet, VX (Vi-ex), was born.

How deadly poisons work

Nerve agents (VX, soman, sarin, tabun)
Nerve agents disrupt the functioning of the human nervous system. The poisoned person develops convulsions, which turn into paralysis. Signs of poisoning are: miosis (narrowing of the pupils), blurred vision, heaviness in the chest, difficulty breathing, headache. In case of damage through the skin, signs of poisoning may appear in humans only after 24 hours.

Skin blister (lewisite, mustard gas)
They affect human skin (lead to the formation of ulcers), respiratory tract, lungs, eyes. If OM enters the human body with food and water, then the internal organs, mainly the digestive system, suffer. Signs of departure: reddening of the skin, the appearance of small blisters. They appear within a few hours.

Asphyxiants (chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene)
These agents affect lung tissue, causing toxic pulmonary edema in humans. The hidden period can last up to 12 hours. Signs of poisoning are: sweet taste in the mouth, dizziness, weakness, cough. In case of chlorine poisoning: redness, burning and swelling of the eyelids, as well as the mucous membrane of the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract.

General poisonous (hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride)
These OM, getting into the human body, disrupt the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. They are one of the fastest acting poisons. Signs of poisoning: burning and metallic taste in the mouth, tingling in the eye area, numbness of the tip of the tongue, scratching in the throat, weakness, dizziness.

Organizational Conclusions

Already during the First World War, the main disadvantages that were inherent in chemical weapons were quite clearly formulated:

- Firstly, such a weapon was very weather dependent. To carry out the attack, one had to wait for the onset of suitable conditions. The slightest change in the direction of the wind and now poisonous substances are flying to the side or even at the attackers themselves (real precedents). At the same time, hydrocyanic acid decomposes very quickly at high humidity and under direct sunlight.

- secondly, chemical weapons proved to be ineffective against troops dispersed on the ground.

- thirdly, according to the results of the analysis, the losses incurred from chemical weapons did not exceed similar losses from ordinary artillery fire.

Significantly reduced the demand for chemical weapons and the constant development of collective and individual protection equipment. Modern gas masks, unlike their distant predecessors of the beginning of the last century, are able to effectively contain most of the agents. Adding here specialized protective clothing, modern degassing agents and antidotes, the low popularity of chemical weapons for conducting full-scale hostilities becomes clear.

A separate and very serious problem was the production itself and long-term storage of various chemical munitions, as well as the process of their subsequent disposal. Accidents that occurred at sections of this technological chain sometimes led to significant human casualties. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1993 in Geneva the leading countries of the world decided to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.

Last update: 07/15/2016

The Russian Aerospace Forces do not use chemical weapons in Syria. This is stated in a message posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The agency notified that the Syrian opposition filmed a supposedly documentary video stating that the Russian Aerospace Forces are using chemical weapons during the anti-terrorist operation.

"Camera crew" in the best traditions of Hollywood captured "air raids", as a result of which children are killed, the report says. - At the same time, to give "believability" to this staging, various special effects were used, in particular, yellow smoke.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the Russian Aerospace Forces are fighting in Syria against the terrorist groups "Islamic State" and "Jabhat al-Nusra", banned in the Russian Federation, exclusively by means permitted by international agreements.​

AiF.ru tells what applies to chemical weapons.

What is a chemical weapon?

Chemical weapons are called toxic substances and means, which are chemical compounds that inflict damage on the enemy's manpower.

Poisonous substances (S) are capable of:

• penetrate, together with air, into various structures, military equipment and inflict defeat on the people in them;
• maintain its damaging effect in the air, on the ground and in various objects for some, sometimes quite a long period of time;
• inflict defeat on people who are in their area of ​​\u200b\u200boperation without means of protection.

Chemical munitions are distinguished by the following characteristics:

• resistance of OV;
• the nature of the effect of OM on the human body;
• means and methods of application;
• tactical purpose;
• the speed of the impact.

International conventions prohibit the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. However, in a number of countries, to combat criminal elements and as a civilian weapon of self-defense, some types of tear-irritating agents (gas cartridges, pistols with gas cartridges) are allowed. Also, many states to combat riots often use non-lethal agents (grenades with agents, aerosol sprays, gas cartridges, pistols with gas cartridges).

How do chemical weapons affect the human body?

The nature of the impact can be:

• nerve agent

OVs act on the central nervous system. The purpose of their use is the rapid mass incapacitation of personnel with the maximum number of deaths.

• blister action

OVs act slowly. They affect the body through the skin or respiratory organs.

• general poisonous action

OV act quickly, cause death of a person, disrupt the function of the blood to deliver oxygen to the tissues of the body.

• suffocating action

OV act quickly, cause the death of a person, affect the lungs.

• psychochemical action

Non-lethal OV. They temporarily affect the central nervous system, affect mental activity, cause temporary blindness, deafness, a sense of fear, restriction of movement.

• RH irritating action

Non-lethal OV. They act quickly, but for a short time. Cause irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes, upper respiratory tract, and sometimes the skin.

What are poisonous chemicals?

Dozens of substances are used as poisonous substances in chemical weapons, including:

• sarin;
• soman;
• V gases;
• mustard gas;
• hydrocyanic acid;
• phosgene;
• lysergic acid dimethylamide.

Sarin is a colorless or yellow liquid with almost no odor. It belongs to the class of nerve agents. Designed to infect the air with vapors. In some cases, it can be used in drop-liquid form. Causes damage to the respiratory system, skin, gastrointestinal tract. When exposed to sarin, salivation, profuse sweating, vomiting, dizziness, loss of consciousness, attacks of severe convulsions, paralysis and, as a result of severe poisoning, death are observed.

Soman is a colorless and almost odorless liquid. Belongs to the class of nerve agents. In many ways, it is very similar to sarin. Persistence is somewhat higher than that of sarin; the toxic effect on the human body is about 10 times stronger.

V gases are liquids with very high boiling points. Like sarin and soman, they are classified as nerve agents. V gases are hundreds of times more toxic than other agents. Contact with human skin of small droplets of V-gases, as a rule, causes the death of a person.

Mustard is a dark brown oily liquid with a characteristic odor reminiscent of garlic or mustard. Belongs to the class of skin-abscess agents. In the vapor state, it affects the skin, respiratory tract and lungs; when it enters the body with food and water, it affects the digestive organs. The action of mustard gas does not appear immediately. After 2-3 days after the lesion, blisters and ulcers appear on the skin, which do not heal for a long time. When the digestive organs are damaged, there is pain in the pit of the stomach, nausea, vomiting, headache, weakening of reflexes. In the future, there is a sharp weakness and paralysis. In the absence of qualified assistance, death occurs within 3-12 days.

Hydrocyanic acid is a colorless liquid with a peculiar odor reminiscent of the smell of bitter almonds. Easily evaporates and acts only in the vapor state. Refers to the general poisonous agents. Characteristic signs of hydrocyanic acid damage are: a metallic taste in the mouth, throat irritation, dizziness, weakness, nausea. Then painful shortness of breath appears, the pulse slows down, loss of consciousness occurs, and sharp convulsions occur. After that, there is a loss of sensitivity, a drop in temperature, respiratory depression, followed by its stop.

Phosgene is a colorless, volatile liquid with an odor of rotten hay or rotten apples. It acts on the body in a vapor state. Belongs to the class of OV suffocating action. When inhaling phosgene, a person feels a sweetish taste in the mouth, then coughing, dizziness and general weakness appear. After 4-6 hours, a sharp deterioration in the condition occurs: cyanotic staining of the lips, cheeks, nose quickly develops; there is a headache, rapid breathing, severe shortness of breath, a painful cough with a liquid, frothy, pinkish sputum, which indicates the development of pulmonary edema. With a favorable course of the disease, the state of health of the affected person will gradually begin to improve, and in severe cases, death occurs after 2-3 days.

Lysergic acid dimethylamide is a poisonous substance of psychochemical action. When it enters the human body, after 3 minutes, mild nausea and dilated pupils appear, and then hallucinations of hearing and vision appear.

What is a chemical weapon? Something terrifying and frightening. This is a weapon of extremely high lethality, which is capable of inflicting mass casualties over vast areas. It is capable of claiming thousands of lives, and in the most inhumane way. After all, the action of chemical weapons is based on toxic substances, which, when they enter people's bodies, destroy them from the inside.

A bit of history

Before delving into the study of the question of what chemical weapons are, it is worth making a brief digression into the past.

Even before our era, it was known that certain toxic substances can cause the death of animals and people. This was known and used for personal purposes. However, in the 19th century, these substances began to be used during large-scale hostilities.

But, nevertheless, the "official" appearance of chemical weapons, as the most dangerous means of warfare, is attributed to the times of the First World War (1914-1918).

The battle was positional in nature, and this forced the belligerents to look for new types of weapons. The German army decided to massively attack enemy positions through the use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases. This was in 1914. Then, in April 1915, the army repeated the attack, but used chlorine poisoning.

More than a hundred years have passed, but the principle of operation of this type of weapon is the same - people are simply inhumanly and cruelly poisoned.

"Delivery" of shells

Talking about the use of chemical weapons, it is worth noting how the process itself takes place. For its "delivery" to the targets, carriers, devices and control devices are used.

The means of application include rockets, gas launchers, artillery shells, aerial bombs, mines, balloon gas launch systems, pouring aircraft devices, bombs, and grenades. In principle, everything is the same that helps to use nuclear weapons. Chemical and biological are delivered in exactly the same way. So they are similar not only in their strength.

Classification by physiological effects

Types of chemical weapons are distinguished by several characteristics. And the way of influencing the human body is the main one. Poisonous substances are released:

• With nerve action. Affect the nervous system. Purpose: rapid and massive incapacitation of personnel. Substances include: V-gases, tabun, soman and sarin.
• With blistering action. They strike through the skin. They are in aerosols and sprays - then they act through the respiratory organs. For these purposes, use lewisite and mustard gas.
• With general poisonous action. They enter the body and disrupt oxygen metabolism. Substances of this type are among the fastest acting. These include cyanogen chloride and hydrocyanic acid.
• With suffocating effect. Lungs are affected. For this, diphosgene and phosgene are used.
• With psychochemical action. Aimed at disabling enemy manpower. They affect the central nervous system, cause temporary deafness, blindness, limit motor functions. Substances include quinuclidyl-3-benzilate and lysergic acid diethylamide. They break the psyche, but do not lead to death.
• With irritating effect. They are also called irritants. They act quickly, but not for long. Maximum - 10 minutes. These include tear substances, sneezing, irritating the respiratory tract. There are also those in which several functions are combined.

It should be noted that irritants in many countries are in service with the police. So they are classified as non-lethal special equipment. A striking example is a gas canister.

Tactical classification

There are only two types of chemical weapons:

• Fatal. Substances of this type include agents that destroy manpower. They have a suffocating, general poisonous, blistering and nerve-paralytic effect.
• Temporarily disabled. Substances of this type include irritants and incapacitants (psychotropic drugs). They incapacitate the enemy for a certain period of time. At least for a couple of minutes. As a maximum - for a few days.

But it is important to note that non-lethal substances can cause death. It is worth remembering the Vietnam War (1957-1975). The US Army did not hesitate to use various gases, among which was also orthochlorobenzylidene malononitrile, bromoacetone, adamsite, etc. The US military claims that they used non-lethal concentrations. But, according to other sources, the gas was used in conditions in which it leads to death. In a closed space, that is.

Impact speed

Two more criteria according to which chemical weapons are classified. According to the speed of impact, it can be:

• Fast acting. These are irritants, general poisonous, nerve-paralytic and psychotropic.
• Slow acting. These include suffocating, skin-angry and some psychotropic.

Impact resistance

Here, too, two types of chemical weapons are distinguished. Substances can provide:

• Short term action. That is, to be volatile or unstable. Their damaging effect is calculated in minutes.
• Long term action. It lasts at least a few hours. The effect of particularly strong substances can last for weeks.

It should be noted that the damaging factors of chemical weapons should still work. Poisonous substances do not always work. So, for example, during the same World War I, for their use it was necessary to wait weeks for the onset of suitable weather conditions.

And this, of course, is a plus. Historian and member of the Scientific Council of the RGVIA Sergey Gennadyevich Nelipovich said that it was the low effectiveness of this weapon that led to the so-called "quiet" refusal to use it.

Binary ammo

It is impossible not to mention them when talking about what chemical weapons are. Binary ammo is a variation of it.

Such a weapon is an ammunition in which several (two, as a rule) precursors are stored. This is the name of the components, the reaction of which leads to the formation of the target substance. They are stored separately in the ammunition, and react (synthesize) after being dropped.

At this point, when the two components are mixed, a chemical reaction occurs, as a result of which a toxic substance is formed.

Like the use of the notorious chemical weapons, such munitions are banned internationally. In some countries, it is even forbidden to produce reagents with which such a weapon could be created. It is logical, because binary munitions are aimed at destroying vegetation, killing people, as well as shackling the work of institutions and facilities.

Phytotoxicants

This is a chemical weapon that affects vegetation. And again recalling the theme of the Vietnam War, it is worth noting that the American army used as many as three recipes. They used "blue", "white" and "orange" phytotoxicants.

Substances of the latter type were the most dangerous. Dioxin, a polychlorinated derivative of dibenzodioxin, was used in their manufacture. This substance is characterized by delayed and cumulative action. It is dangerous because the signs of poisoning appear in a row for several days, sometimes months, and sometimes even after many years.

By using phytotoxicants, the US Army has greatly facilitated the process of aerial reconnaissance. Agricultural crops and vegetation along roads, power lines and canals were destroyed, so it became easy to hit Vietnamese targets.

Naturally, the use of phytotoxicants caused irreparable harm to the ecological balance of the region and the health of the local population. Still, after all, almost 50% of forests and sown areas were destroyed.

Mustard gas

There are a lot of substances related to chemical weapons. All and do not list. But some of them deserve special attention.

Mustard gas is a dark brown oily liquid with an odor reminiscent of mustard and garlic. Its vapors affect the lungs and respiratory tract, and when ingested, it burns the digestive organs.

Mustard gas is dangerous because it does not appear immediately - only after some time. All this time he has a hidden effect. If, for example, a drop of mustard gas gets on the skin, it will instantly be absorbed into it without pain or any other sensations. But after a couple of hours, the person will feel itchy and notice redness. And after a day, the skin will be covered with small blisters, which then merge into huge blisters. They will break through in 2-3 days and expose ulcers that will take months to heal.

Hydrocyanic acid

A dangerous substance, in high concentrations, smelling of a deceptively pleasant smell of bitter almonds. It evaporates easily, and has its deadly effect only in the vapor state.

A person who has inhaled hydrocyanic acid first of all feels a metallic taste in his mouth. Then there is irritation of the throat, weakness, nausea, dizziness. These manifestations are quickly replaced by excruciating shortness of breath. The pulse begins to slow down, the person loses consciousness. His body is fettered by convulsions, which are quickly replaced by complete relaxation of the muscles, which had already lost sensitivity by that time. Body temperature drops, breathing is oppressed, and eventually stops. Cardiac activity stops after 3-7 minutes.

There is an antidote. But it still needs to be applied. The use of colloidal sulfur, aldehydes, methylene blue, salts and esters of nitrous acid, as well as ketones and polythionates can save lives.

Chemical weapons as a method of attack

One of the most famous terrorist attacks can be considered what happened on March 20, 1995 in Tokyo. But before recalling this terrible story, for a better understanding of the topic, it is necessary to tell what sarin is.

This nerve agent has already been mentioned above. Sarin is of organophosphate origin. This is the third most powerful poisonous substance of the G-series after soman and cyclosarin.

Sarin is a colorless liquid with a faint apple blossom odor. At high pressure, it evaporates and after 1-2 minutes affects everyone who inhales it.

So, on March 20, 1995, five unknown people, each of whom had a bag of sarin in their hands, went down to the subway. They distributed themselves among the compounds and pierced them, releasing the sarin to the outside. Evaporation quickly spread through the subway. One tiny drop is enough (0.0005 mg/L) to kill an adult human. And each terrorist had two bags of 1 liter with him.

That is 10 liters of sarin. Unfortunately, the attack was well planned. The terrorists knew exactly what chemical weapons were and how they worked. According to official figures, 5,000 people fell ill with severe poisoning, 12 of them died.

Chemical protection

It is also necessary to say a few words about it. The use of chemical weapons is detrimental, so various sets of measures to reduce (or rather prevent) their impact on people are necessary. Here are the main tasks:

• Early detection of signs of chemical contamination.
• Warn the public of the danger.
• Protect people, animals, food, drinking water, cultural and material values.
• Eliminate the consequences of infection.

Personal protective equipment is used to save people. If the situation is emergency, everyone is collected and taken out of the zone of chemical contamination. Control is ongoing. For this, chemical reconnaissance devices are used. Everything is aimed at preventing the occurrence of an emergency of this nature.

Even if suddenly at some facility (at a plant, for example) there is a threat of an accident, the effect of which is comparable to chemical weapons, the first thing that is done in such a situation is to notify the personnel and the population, followed by evacuation.

Cleanup

The damaging factors of chemical weapons are very difficult to eliminate. Elimination of consequences is a complex and time-consuming process. For its implementation resort to:

• Carrying out urgent restoration work aimed at stopping the release of toxic substances (OS).
• Localization of areas where liquid agents were applied. This usually happens through their bunding. Or the liquid is collected in special traps.
• Installation of water curtains in places of distribution of agents.
• Installation of fire curtains.

Naturally, if the factors of chemical weapons were discovered, then the rescuers should help people. Skillfully put on gas masks on them, take the victims out of the lesions, perform artificial respiration or indirect heart massage, neutralize traces of agents on the skin, rinse the eyes with water. In general, to provide all possible assistance.