Syria’s use of Chemical Weapons casts grim shadow over Ukraine
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – After President Bashar al-Assad petrified the whole world by deploying chemical agents on opposition-held towns near the capital, Damascus, killing about 1,400 people, Ukrainians now fear a similar scenario, especially as they face the man who backed him, president Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Al-Assad was blamed for launching dozens of poison gas attacks that killed and maimed hundreds, including many children, without facing any threatening consequences, mainly because of Russia’s protection.
After nearly a decade of their first use in Syria, concerns are rising that such weapons could be deployed again, but this time in Ukraine, where Russian forces have been waging a devastating war for weeks.
It is still unclear if chemical agents will be used by Putin to support his brutal offensive in Ukraine. Analysts say the Syrian war set a horrendous precedent in terms of deploying chlorine, sulfur and the nerve agent sarin, ignoring the International Law and facing no accountability.
Aida Samani, legal adviser with Civil Rights Defenders, a Sweden-based group, said, “It seems that Russia has drawn the conclusion that it’s safe to continue this modus operandi from Syria in the Ukrainian context as well.”
She also added that this “undermines the international regulations” and “lowers the threshold for the use of such weapons.”
Another crossroads between Syria and Ukraine is the Russian accusation that Ukraine is running chemical and biological labs with US support, leading people to accuse Moscow of seeking to stage a false-flag incident, similar to what al-Assad did in Syria.
World leaders and policymakers are struggling with how the West should respond if Russia launched a chemical or biological attack, because, unlike Syria, Russia is a nuclear power and any reaction risks triggering a nuclear confrontation, which Putin has already alluded to.