Ukrainian MP Claims Russia Dropped Chemical Weapons from a Drone in Devastated Mariupol
A member of Ukraine’s parliament claimed Monday on CNN that Russians used a drone Monday to drop chemical weapons on the devastated city of Mariupol.
Dmytro Gurin told CNN’s Victor Blackwell the city, in which an estimated 10,000 civilians are claimed dead, was targeted by an unknown chemical substance.
Blackwell noted that reports coming from the city are awful, and asked him about civilians who are trying to survive a siege.
Citing “official sources,” Gurin said the attack happened “an hour ago… Russian troop used chemical weapon in Mariupol. They dropped unknown substance from drone.”
Blackwell, given the gravity of the claim, offered a disclaimer for his viewers.
“Your claim is Russian troops used chemical weapons in Mariupol,” he said. “What is the source of that? This would be a dramatic escalation if it happened.”
Gurin cited sources close to him, and Blackwell again cautioned the claim is unverified.
“Let me also say here that CNN has not independently verified that chemical weapons have been used in Mariupol,” Blackwell said, before he asked: “What was the result? Did it happen an hour ago or was it discovered an hour ago?
“It happened hour ago, and that’s the last news,” Gurin replied.
Stunning images shared online show the besieged city in ruins.
New drone footage shows the rubble of a Mariupol theater destroyed in a bombing last month. Ukrainian officials estimated roughly 300 people were killed in the strike on the theater, which had the Russian word for “children” written on the ground at the time of the attack pic.twitter.com/9YYZ4JQS8M
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 11, 2022
The Associated Press reported Monday Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko claimed 10,000 civilians have died in the port city since Russia invaded in February.
“Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” Boychenko claimed.
Gurin told CNN he believes that number is closer to 30,000.
Watch above, via CNN.
