Russian Federation Destroys Last Stockpiles Of Chemical Weapons

[Panzermann]

no more Buntschiessen

OPCW Director-General Commends Major Milestone as Russia Completes Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile under OPCW Verification
Wednesday, 27 September 2017

HE HAGUE, Netherlands – 27 September 2017 – The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, made a statement today marking the completion of the full destruction of the 39,967 metric tons of chemical weapons possessed by the Russian Federation.
The Director-General stated: "The completion of the verified destruction of Russia's chemical weapons programme is a major milestone in the achievement of the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
I congratulate Russia and I commend all of their experts who were involved for their professionalism and dedication.
I also express my appreciation to the States Parties that assisted the Russian Federation with its destruction program and thank the OPCW staff who verified the destruction."
The remainder of Russia’s chemical weapons arsenal has been destroyed at the Kizner Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility in the Udmurt Republic.
Kizner was the last operating facility of seven chemical weapons destruction facilities in Russia. The six other facilities (Kambarka, Gorny, Maradykovsky, Leonidovka, Pochep and Shchuchye) completed work and were closed between 2005 and 2015.
Background
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
Over 96 per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States Parties have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.

https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-director-general-commends-major-milestone-as-russia-completes-destruction-of-chemical-weapons-stockpile-under-opcw-verification/


of course the Kremlin cannot help itself and pokes at others:

...
We can say that this is a historic event considering the massive amount of chemical weapons inherited from the Soviet Union. This is a huge step towards greater balance and security in the modern world.
...

We expect that Russia’s efforts to eliminate chemical weapons will serve as an example to other countries as well. As is known, the largest chemical weapons arsenals belonged to Russia and still belongs to the United States that, regrettably, does not abide by its commitments on deadlines for chemical arms destruction. The deadlines for their elimination have been postponed three times, including supposedly due to a shortage of necessary budget funds, which sounds strange, to be honest, but let it be. We expect the United States and other countries to fulfil their commitments under international agreements.

Russia is strictly fulfilling its international commitments, including its obligations on disarmament and non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. We are always open to meaningful dialogue on enhancing global security.

I would like to thank all those who took part in implementing this programme, who displayed the utmost professionalism, responsibility and, at times, courage. I congratulate you on successfully eliminating the last of Russia’s chemical weapons.

I would like to note that our country planned to complete this work by 2020 but completed it ahead of schedule this year, 2017. This is a great success, the result of large-scale, comprehensive and important work of large teams of scientists, workers, and engineers who worked at enterprises specially built for this task.
...

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55714

[GARGEAN]

no more Buntschiessen

 

OPCW Director-General Commends Major Milestone as Russia Completes Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile under OPCW Verification

Wednesday, 27 September 2017

 

HE HAGUE, Netherlands 27 September 2017 The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, made a statement today marking the completion of the full destruction of the 39,967 metric tons of chemical weapons possessed by the Russian Federation.

The Director-General stated: "The completion of the verified destruction of Russia's chemical weapons programme is a major milestone in the achievement of the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

I congratulate Russia and I commend all of their experts who were involved for their professionalism and dedication.

I also express my appreciation to the States Parties that assisted the Russian Federation with its destruction program and thank the OPCW staff who verified the destruction."

The remainder of Russias chemical weapons arsenal has been destroyed at the Kizner Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility in the Udmurt Republic.

Kizner was the last operating facility of seven chemical weapons destruction facilities in Russia. The six other facilities (Kambarka, Gorny, Maradykovsky, Leonidovka, Pochep and Shchuchye) completed work and were closed between 2005 and 2015.

Background

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Conventions entry into force in 1997 with its 192 States Parties it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Over 96 per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States Parties have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.

https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-director-general-commends-major-milestone-as-russia-completes-destruction-of-chemical-weapons-stockpile-under-opcw-verification/

 

 

of course the Kremlin cannot help itself and pokes at others:

...

We can say that this is a historic event considering the massive amount of chemical weapons inherited from the Soviet Union. This is a huge step towards greater balance and security in the modern world.

...

 

We expect that Russias efforts to eliminate chemical weapons will serve as an example to other countries as well. As is known, the largest chemical weapons arsenals belonged to Russia and still belongs to the United States that, regrettably, does not abide by its commitments on deadlines for chemical arms destruction. The deadlines for their elimination have been postponed three times, including supposedly due to a shortage of necessary budget funds, which sounds strange, to be honest, but let it be. We expect the United States and other countries to fulfil their commitments under international agreements.

 

Russia is strictly fulfilling its international commitments, including its obligations on disarmament and non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. We are always open to meaningful dialogue on enhancing global security.

 

I would like to thank all those who took part in implementing this programme, who displayed the utmost professionalism, responsibility and, at times, courage. I congratulate you on successfully eliminating the last of Russias chemical weapons.

 

I would like to note that our country planned to complete this work by 2020 but completed it ahead of schedule this year, 2017. This is a great success, the result of large-scale, comprehensive and important work of large teams of scientists, workers, and engineers who worked at enterprises specially built for this task.

...

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55714

Nooo, those pesky russkies definitely hidden some dozen tones of sarin and stuff. They need it to handle to couple of dictators that want to gas their own people, after all.

PS: poke is more that fair.

[BansheeOne]

I guess a country that received several billion dollars in Western financial aid to destroy its chemical weapons, then complains it wasn't enough, has an easy time admonishing others for lagging behind due to financial reasons.

 

http://www.nti.org/newsroom/news/canada-and-nti-agree-help-destroy-chemical-weapons-russia/

 

https://www.g-8.de/nn_94646/Content/EN/Artikel/2007/04/2007-04-26-g8-globale-partnerschaft__en.html

 

https://sputniknews.com/russia/20080326102271498/

 

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-help-russia-destroy-chemical-weapon-stockpile/a-3401229

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/russia-g8-weapons/g8-cash-not-enough-for-arms-disposal-says-russia-idUKLS12802720090128

[Chris Werb]

That they have destroyed the last of their stocks is, of course, completely unverifiable. Another pointless treaty....

[bd1]

but for the amateur like me - isn´t the chemical weapons basicly the most useless kind of WMD? realitively easy to decontaminate, never worked even in ww1 as hoped, extremely dependent on weather conditions etc., still a bitch to handle /storage and can be produced again if need arises.

 

makes little sense to use as military weapon. why not get rid of it and save money for like, nukes? so russia just cut costs , filled obligation and got good PR . would´nt that make sense?

[Chris Werb]

Well, having them, hypothetically or otherwise, forces your opponent to spend a lot of money protecting from them. I'd also argue that persistent nerve agents aren't that easy to decontaminate/neutralise. I think the most useless WMD (so far) are active (living) biological agents for a number of obvious reasons.

[bd1]

that´s probably true, but aren´t chemical weapons still hard to use, capricious and likely not worth the trouble? persistent nerve agent or not - if you cannot use it on battlefield like 250 days a year due to wrong weather, it´s wasted resource. besides you need to protect your own troops to the minimum safe stanard should they pass the area

Edited September 28, 2017 by bd1

[Markus Becker]

no more Buntschiessen

But what about Bescheissen? After all the OPCW are the same people who won the Nobel Peace Price for ensuring the complete destruction of the Syrian CW arsenal.

[JasonJ]

I think one use for chemical weapons is that they can kill without blowing things up. Inducing fear is likely another factor. For whatever reason, IJA made quite a lot of use of them in China, first time being in the Battle of Wuhan in 1938. So they probably saw a role for CW.

[Stuart Galbraith]

That they have destroyed the last of their stocks is, of course, completely unverifiable. Another pointless treaty....

 

Chris, did you see the video I posted on the new cold war thread about the INF treaty?

 

As it happens, many of the buildings being used to decommission the Chemical weapons stocks have been used to rehouse various Russian Army detachments. So the drive to decommission would less seem to be about security, than about saving money and freeing up accommodation for the rest of the armed forces. Which is fair enough, but being presented as something else for largely political consumption. For example, according to Russian defence.net, the new 144th Division is to be based in a former facility in Briansk, and they are freeing up some facilities to house Air Defence units in the Central military district.

[Panzermann]

but for the amateur like me - isn´t the chemical weapons basicly the most useless kind of WMD? realitively easy to decontaminate, never worked even in ww1 as hoped, extremely dependent on weather conditions etc., still a bitch to handle /storage and can be produced again if need arises.

 

makes little sense to use as military weapon. why not get rid of it and save money for like, nukes? so russia just cut costs , filled obligation and got good PR . would´nt that make sense?

 

Bingo!

 

win-win-win for Russia.

 

---

 

 

 

no more Buntschiessen

But what about Bescheissen? After all the OPCW are the same people who won the Nobel Peace Price for ensuring the complete destruction of the Syrian CW arsenal.

 

 

Yes the OPCW are not the brightest bunch it seems, but they have to make do with only a handful of controllers and have to mostly rely on cooperation. And really, the Noble peace prize has become meaningless many years ago.

 

Then it is still and probably never will be cleared up, where the last load of gas came from in Syria. Old Syrian stocks? Iraq? Somewhere else? Mixed fresh?

[JWB]

Dearest Leader

[Chris Werb]

I'm not buying that nerve agents are useless as a weapon. Back in the CW, we didn't think so and the Russians aren't famous for spending large amounts of money on developing and stockpiling useless stuff and the means to deliver it. As to their treaty compliance, given the number of treaties they have cheated or reneged on over just the last couple of decades, I would be amazed if they don't still have a significant stockpile salted away, which would indeed make this a win-win-win situation for them.

[Stuart Galbraith]

This always sounded like some fun stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

[Chris Werb]

Look under R for "Russia"

 

https://www.state.gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/2017/270367.htm

[Stuart Galbraith]

I quite believe it Chris, but look at the video I upped on the INF treaty. They broke that, they broke CFE, they are killing open skies, and now there are some misgivings that they might be going to break the latest START as well.. The only consistency is that Putin doesn't feel bound by any of the agreements Gorbachev signed.

 

Do I think they have destroyed pretty much all their stocks? Yes, for economic reasons more than anything else. But I would not be surprised if they have not retained the means of manufacturing VX at the very least. Without verification, and quite clearly they dont seem very keen to allow this, we only have Putins word for it.

[Blunt Eversmoke]

This always sounded like some fun stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

Still, has nothing on the Nikolaev gas

[Stuart Galbraith]

Ok, I read up to about day 5 of that and I gave up on it. It kind of sounds like Eli Roth Meets HP Lovecraft.

 

An even more bizarre story, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Gasser_of_Mattoon

[bd1]

great summary about chemical weapons , translated from a rus. site

 

 

 

P.S. The author of these lines is an officer of the Engineering Forces, and for several years was te Engineering Officer for a regiment and later a division. I am not a chemical soldier, but, according to the Manual for Supporting Actions for the Ground Forces, Part IV my duties include preparing for the results of a WMD strike against my regiment or division. Any such defense must be based on knowledge of the weapons in question and their effects, as well as close work with the unit's chemical service officer.

 

 

All of this training has taught the author that chemical weapons are operationally useless, and even more completely powerless against soldiers trained and equipped in dealing with them.

Nuclear weapons are almost as worthless. It's like trying to chase a cockroach on the asphalt with a steamroller. It might work, but it is useless. The author was not the only man to think that � our commanders knew it as well, they read our reports all the time. The other side must have known that too � no side truly intended to use chemical weapons. Despite all their complexity and cost, these weapons could not give the needed result, but could easily interfere with combat control and te proper use of weaponry.

But generals on both sides needed to take into account politicians, scientists who were fans of chemical weapons � such people always have access to political power � and the military-chemical lobbies in parliaments. So they played out chemical weapon battles on maps and forced soldiers to train with these abominable gas masks and terrible chemical suits (a soldier is like a horse at a wedding � some drink, some celebrate, and the horse does all the work). And the well-known conclusions made by military scientists in 1918-1920, known to every senior officer and general, were carefully �forgotten�, to avoid upsetting �public opinion.�

http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/ar/t9951.htm

[bojan]

Author also has excellent site concerning engineering equipment from the army, including lot of comments from his perspective.

http://saper.isnet.ru/

[Luckyorwhat]

Good for Russia, a stabilizing move, an olive branch, hope they keep coming and we send a few back. Who wants conflict with Russia other than weapons dealers? Soldiers? Civilians? Don't think so. Trump's right we should work with Russia (how can that be a bad thing?) and coordinate a movement into the new multipolar world by including them into a new alliance we'll call the 'Global North'.

[GARGEAN]

Agree with guy about CW, pretty much disagree about nukes, especially tactical.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Russia will never give up its tactical nuclear weapons. Its the only compensation it has for the amount of territory it has and the amount of armed forces it can afford.

[Chris Werb]

If you have chemical weapons - or the other side thinks you have them - then you force your potential enemies to invest in chemical protective equipment, whether you intend to use them or not. They are much. much more useable than nukes as we have seen from uses by the (former) Iraqi and Syrian government and IS. When they used them, either nothing or very little was done in retaliation. Tactical nukes, in contrast, offer a fast track to massive retaliation or mutually assured destruction.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Im not so sure. If the Russians actually had that view, I think Trumps TLAM strikes on Syria have disabused them from it.

 

Ive not read of anything about this in Russian doctrine. They seem happy to jump over Chemical weapons and got straight to tactical nuclear weapons, simply because its such an escalation.That and I think their capablity to withstand chemical attack is perhaps not as strong as we historically thought. Zaloga never really rated their chemical defence capablity. They certainly have a lot of chemical weapons defence units, but most of those have a secondary 'flamethrower' capablity. For example, the NBC brigades have TOS-1 as part of their equipment.

 

Im not saying they dont have chemical weapons, I would not be surprised if they retained the ability to make VX. Im just not really buying they would use that as a weapon of first resort. The whole point of de-escalation strike sis to raise the stakes beyond the other sides ability to retaliate, which with the piss poor state of NATO's tactical weapons stocks (I think we have about 200 against their 2000 tactical weapons) quite clearly they have at present. If they used a chemical strike, the US still has its stocks, however vestigial, and they have no very good means of defending against it. Why go there.

 

Just my view FWIW.