436
submitted 2 months ago by breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca to c/world@lemmy.world

Gasping for air from a trench in eastern Ukraine, an infantryman was ready for the worst when a suffocating white smoke spread into his position.

A Russian drone had just dropped a gas grenade into the trench, an internationally banned practice in warfare used to suffocate Ukrainian soldiers hiding inside. Forced out in the open, the Ukrainians immediately became vulnerable targets for Russian drones and artillery.

. . .

Russia has increasingly deployed chemical agents in its grand offensive to occupy the last cities in the Donbas region under Ukrainian control. The suffocation tactic is to take out entrenched personnel and dampen the morale of Ukrainian soldiers who – severely outmanned and outgunned – have been withdrawing village by village in the east for nearly a year.

MBFC
Archive

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 143 points 2 months ago

This is beyond the pale. It's time to stop forcing Ukraine to fight with a hand tied.

[-] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 48 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is beyond the pale.

But not surprising. Not for Russians.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 2 months ago

Yeah, there has to be a response to this. The Russians will continue to escalate their war crimes if there are not consequences. Weapons free Ukraine.

[-] Myxomatosis@lemmy.world 131 points 2 months ago

Fuck Putin and fuck Russia. Slava Ukraini

[-] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world 42 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Let Ukraine off the leash, they need to stop playing by all the rules. Hit them back with ruthless parity.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 46 points 2 months ago

No. Get them the tools to do it right.

[-] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago
[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 10 points 2 months ago

Totally hear you, but warcrimes are like, the literal least we can do to be not complete animals

load more comments (31 replies)
[-] terraborra@lemmy.nz 84 points 2 months ago

Sounds a lot like war crimes.

[-] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It's Russia. It'd be easier finding a "legal" needle in the haystack of war crimes.

[-] Olap@lemmy.world 76 points 2 months ago

Gas in WW1 changed the battlefield for about 6 weeks whilst they scrambled for gas masks, but after this it didn't have the effect either side thought it would. A stupid distraction that will earn Putin and his generals a trip to the Hague for sure

[-] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 59 points 2 months ago

They'll never see the Hague, the whole argument that Putin and Xi are having is that laws should be enforced by strength of arms, and what're you gonna do about it?!?!

History never sounds pretty when it rhymes.

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 months ago

A gas mask wouldn't work for this though, right? If it suffocates by displacing oxygen then you'd need an SCBA, not just a gas mask. That's a lot more kit to supply and carry around.

[-] Olap@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The thing about air: there's a lot of it. Not many gases take that long to settle/dissipate. And a gas mask is pretty effective at filtering. I do imagine worst case scenario in the heaviest bombardment is a brief evacuation of current line of defense only, as this is what happened back in the somme. It was far more effective vs artillery: artillery regiments weren't equipped as well and thus they were denied counter battery fire for enough time to allow front lines to cross no mans land. Which were backed up by creeping barrages, which I haven't read much out in Ukraine yet

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 8 points 2 months ago

Partially. The article is pretty thorough, and covers many angles. I suggest reading it if you haven't.

It doesn't cover the part about displacing oxygen, but I don't think there are chemical agents that do that.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Lots an lots of any gas will, but then again so would water. It's mostly an issue in confined spaces.

If you see someone lying next to a container of liquid nitrogen, don't follow them in.

[-] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 months ago

Did they have gas masks for the horses? (Honest question. I guess I could look it up but... Meh)

[-] Olap@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Yup, https://duckduckgo.com/?q=horse+gas+mask&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images - loads of varities though I'm not sure on numbers deployed. Due to the rather static lines of defense I do believe the second world war actually saw more horses used! The nazis were always scrambling for oil and petroleum and thus they utilised stupendous amounts of horses

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yes, I've actually seen some in museums. I bet the horses hated them.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 73 points 2 months ago

100 years after the First World War.

Everything old is new again.

[-] Wild_Mastic@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago

War crimes are back on menu it seems. Or it always has been there?

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 48 points 2 months ago

With Russia? Always has been.

[-] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 months ago

Is that title extremely confusing, or just me? I'm suffering from a concussion and was told to watch for signs of confusion.

[-] tlou3please@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Nah it's a strangely worded title you're good

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

"boosts grinding" is a bit awkward, because it's unclear which is a verb in this context. I hope you make a speedy and full recovery, TBI is no joke.

[-] Kraiden@kbin.earth 6 points 2 months ago

I had to read it a few times. It's confusing

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 15 points 2 months ago

Later when the same thing is done back on them they will express their outrage that underhanded tactics like they do are used against them.

[-] Doom@ttrpg.network 3 points 2 months ago

It'll be because someone shot their drone down or launched their armament back too. Or just the wind will carry it at their own

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ah, so just tear gas. That's paradoxically both more banned and less provocative than, like, Sarin.

If they did actual chemical weapons, it's time for the next historical event. The US has apparently laid out what happens next in painstaking detail.

[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

It is a chemical weapon. What historical event? The US does nothing but sit on its hands and talk a big game. They would probably confiscate the gas to be used on innocents in Gaza.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I feel like I answered that question already. "The US has apparently laid out what happens next in painstaking detail". I was not in the room, so I don't know what that means exactly, but it's a bunch of specifically allocated military facilities to be bombed out or something.

Please dump the polemic somewhere else. I'm upset about Gaza too.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] luciferofastora@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago

I'll plug an interesting blog post on the topic of using chemical weapons. The post concerns itself mostly with lethal weapons, but I feel like some of the points apply here as well.

The essence is that for modern military systems, mobility and the relative cost of manufacturing, storing and employing (lethal) chemical weapons compared to protective equipment render them much less valuable than conventional explosive munitions. They see usage mostly between weaker static armies, which lack the equipment, training or command doctrines for modern warfare.

The banning of chemical weapons was done because they weren't generally very useful for the modern systems of the superpowers at the time. Russia cracking them out again suggests they no longer have all the capabilities of a modern superpower. Which probably isn't super new for most people, but might be worth spelling out anyway.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
436 points (98.2% liked)

World News

39129 readers
681 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS