Dutch intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, the defence minister and chief of military intelligence in the Netherlands told Reuters, APA reports.
Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
"This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalised, standardised, and widespread."
The Dutch intelligence findings on alleged Russian use of chloropicrin, a banned warfare agent first used by Germany during World War One, have not previously been reported.
The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed "our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations."
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the use of banned chemical substances by either side in the Ukraine war.
The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents, in May last year.
Ukraine alleges thousands of instances of Russian chemical weapons use.
Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Russia has denied using illegal munitions, and it has accused Ukraine of doing so.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the Federal Security Service discovered a Ukrainian cache of explosive devices in the east of the country containing chloropicrin.
Ukraine has consistently denied such accusations.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were "insufficiently substantiated".
It has not been asked to conduct a full investigation, which must be initiated by member states.
At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, Brekelmans said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities.
Increased use of chemical weapons by Russia poses a threat not only to Ukraine but to other countries, Brekelmans added.
"We must further increase the pressure. This means looking at more sanctions and specifically not allowing them (Russia) to participate in international bodies like the Executive Council of the OPCW," he said.
Reesink spoke of "thousands of instances" of chemical weapons use, while also citing a Ukrainian figure of 9,000.
Rotating two-year seats on the OPCW council will be up for negotiation in the coming months.
The intelligence findings were presented in a letter to the Dutch parliament on Friday.
