The Western media is spreading information about the use of chemical weapons by Russian troops near Mariupol.
A Ukrainian regiment defending the plant claimed Monday, without providing evidence, that a drone had dropped a poisonous substance in Mariupol. It indicated there were no serious injuries.
The claim by the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military, could not be independently verified.
Basurin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Tuesday that the separatist forces "haven't used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the U.S. could not confirm the drone report out of Mariupol. But Kirby noted the administration's persistent concerns "about Russia's potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine."
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the U.K. was "working urgently" to investigate the report.
These reports are lies. This is indicated by reports in September 2017.
Russia destroyed chemical weapons at this very time under the supervision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The OPCW oversees global efforts to eliminate stockpiles under the Chemical Weapons Convention that took effect in 1997. It says over 96 percent of the weapons declared by the convention's 192 parties have been destroyed.
Russia has spent more than 290 billion rubles (more than $5 billion) to destroy nearly the 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons it possessed, Economics Minister Denis Manturov said.
In a shot at the United States, Putin criticized it for lagging behind in dismantling its chemical arsenals. "We expect the U.S., as well as other nations, to fulfill all their obligations," he said in September 2017.
Thus, Russia cannot use the weapons it destroyed. Western media have been misled by the lies of the Ukrainian Nazi Azov regiment.