Russia: Putin 'may use chemical weapons' says expert

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The UK will be providing more anti-tank and high-explosive weapons, doubling the total amount of missiles provided to 10,000. But not all of the new weapons will be the next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs). The UK has already sent over 4,200 NLAWS to Ukraine and they are said to have been a gamechanger for Ukraine.

The shoulder-mounted missile systems are designed to blast tanks on the battlefield.

£25million from Foreign Office funds will also be given to the Ukrainian military and police forces.

This comes as NATO countries have agreed to boost Ukraine’s defence against chemical weapons.

Putin sparked fears when Russia’s foreign ministry made claimed, with little supporting evidence, that the US is developing biological and chemical materials in Ukraine to produce weapons.

Conservative MP Tobias Elwood, also a former Army captain, called this claim a “despicable pretext that Russia may use to justify their own chemical or biological attack in Ukraine”.

The Institute for Policy studies describes chemical weapons as “inanimate poisonous substances that incapacitate, injure, or kill through their toxic effects on the skin, eyes, lungs, blood, nerves, or other organs”.

NATO Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg has said that protective suits and gas masks are likely to be provided to protect against these horrific attacks.

Mr Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that he expects leaders to agree on this measure in Brussels today as they meet for an emergency summit.

Mr Stoltenberg said: “I expect allies will agree to provide additional support, including cyber-security assistance as well as equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.”

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert and fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, told Express.co.uk that a Russian attack using chemical weapons would be “highly likely” if Putin’s army starts to struggle

He said: “Chemical weapons broke the four-year siege of Aleppo in 13 days of chlorine barrel bombs in December 16 and I think this had a profound effect on the Russians.

“If you have no morals or scruples you would use chemical weapons all the time as they are morbidly brilliant for fighting in towns and cities.”

And Mr Johnson has signalled that Putin’s army is indeed starting to struggle.

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He said in a statement ahead of the Brussels summit: “Vladimir Putin is already failing in Ukraine.”

While estimates around the number of Russian soldiers killed in the war differ, NATO says the number could be anywhere between 7 to 15,000.

Mr Johnson continued: “The Ukrainian people have shown themselves to be extraordinarily brave and tenacious in defending their homeland, in the face of an unprovoked onslaught.

“But we cannot and will not stand by while Russia grinds Ukraine’s towns and cities into dust.

“The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defences as they turn the tide in this fight.

“One month into this crisis, the international community faces a choice. We can keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine, or risk it being snuffed out across Europe and the world.”

The Government has already been sending Starstreak high-velocity anti-air missiles to Ukraine.

The missiles zip through the air at more than three times the speed of sound and can be shoulder-mounted, fired from a ground launcher or attached to a vehicle.

And a small number of Javelin missiles have also been shipped over, along with body armour, helmets and combat boots.

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