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.“I thought about everything that I should and shouldn’t have thought about,” said Ihor, who recalled the February incident near Chasiv Yar, where he held off Moscow’s troops advancing from the ruins of Russian-occupied Bakhmut. Like some other soldiers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent, he asked not to disclose his identity for security reasons.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.
Read More: Russian Drones Drop “Gas Grenades” Amid Donbas Advance, Leave Ukraine Troops “Gasping For
