Kiev deputy mayor calls for gas masks to protect Ukrainians from chemical attacks

The UFF (Ukrainian Freedom Fund), a non-profit organization that is working to acquire defense materials for Ukrainian troops, on Monday received a letter from the deputy mayor of Kiev requesting 200,000 masks. of gas to protect the Ukrainians from any potential chemical weapons attack.

“Due to the large-scale invasion of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory, there is a threat of chemical damage to the population of Ukraine and the citizens of Kiev in particular,” the deputy mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Volodymyr Bondarenko, wrote to the UFF in a letter. reviewed by CNN.

“On behalf of the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko, the citizens of the Kiev municipality and the Ukrainian society, we ask for humanitarian aid, mainly in the form of personal protective equipment (respirators, in accordance with the attached technical requirements), for the center of humanitarian aid in the capital,” the letter reads.

This order shows how urgently Ukrainians believe they need this equipment. As part of new security assistance announced last week by US President Joe Biden, the US government has given Ukraine some protective gear to protect the population from potential chemical weapons attacks.

A spokesman for the US State Department said on Tuesday (19) that more equipment should be sent. The department, however, did not detail the amount of material supplied so far.

Last week, there were unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons being used in Mariupol. US officials have also warned that they have reliable information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents, such as tear gas mixed with chemical agents, as part of their attack on Mariupol.

The risk of Russia carrying out a chemical weapons attack on Ukraine still exists, but the likelihood has not increased or decreased in recent days, a US intelligence official said.

However, as the risk remains, Ukrainians want to be prepared, which has spurred this urgent effort. Demand is much higher than expected, making acquisition a challenge.

“Gas masks are hard to come by now,” explained a US military veteran who lives in Ukraine and works for the UFF.

The organization is working on procuring these gas masks now and has already provided thousands of bulletproof vests, helmets, vehicles and field first aid kits to the Territorial Defense forces of Ukraine and is continuing its efforts.

Source: CNN Brasil

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