The Soviet war machine places a high priority on the use of chemical warfare agents. As much as 30 percent of the Soviet Union’s arsenal is related to chemical warfare.
"Nearly a decade after perestroika began," Yablokov complains, "no one knows anything precise" about the weapons. Official announcements have been made that some 40,000 tons of
chemical poisons now in warehouses will be disposed of over the next 15 years, as is called for in the international convention on chemical weapons. "But," Yablokov asks, "what is happening to the 150,000 to 400,000 tons of poison gas that were ... buried, sunk, or burned elsewhere?"
At hundreds of sites, containers of poison gas were carelessly put aside, perhaps with no clear indication of what was being left behind. Moreover, immense quantities of chemical weapons are decaying in the oceans. According to retired General Boris Surikov, some of these date back as far as World War II.
Known Chemical Warfare Agents of USSR/Russia arsenal
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NERVE AGENTS
Tabun (GA) - cholinesterase inhibitor
Tabun: Also known as GB, tabun was discovered in Germany by Dr Gerhard Schrader, who also
first developed sarin.
Effects: If inhaled or absorbed through the eyes or skin, tabun can kill in as little as one
or two minutes.
Symptoms: Similar to VX and sarin.
Protection: Injection of antidote immediately after contact.
Iraqi program: Iraq has admitted to producing 210 tonnes of tabun and using the agent to fill bombs. A UN-backed team has confirmed that Iraq used tabun as early as 1984 against Iranian forces. Tabun was also used in the Iraqi attack on Kurds at Halabaja in 1988.
Sarin (GB) - cholinesterase inhibitor
Sarin: A colorless liquid several times more deadly than cyanide, sarin is related to a group of pesticides and was initially developed in Germany in the 1930s.
Effects: Sarin attacks the nervous system when inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Inhalation can cause death within 1 – 10 minutes of exposure.
Lethal dose: 0.5 milligrams
Symptoms: Pupils shrink to pinpoints and sweating and twitching precede symptoms similar to those for VX exposure.
Protection: Injection of antidote immediately after contact.
VX (Methylphosphonothioic acid S-(2-(bis(1-methylethyl)amino)ethyl) O-ethyl ester)
VX: A clear, colorless liquid – technically named methylphosphonothioic acid and described as the most deadly nerve agent ever created.
Absorption: Through eyes, lungs and skin
Effects: Like other nerve agents, VX attacks the nervous system – severe doses can cause death within 15 minutes of exposure.
Lethal dose: Fraction of a drop
Symptoms: Small doses trigger nasal discharge, chest tightness, wheezing and headaches – severe doses lead to convulsions, confusion and respiratory failure.
Protection: Immediate injection of atropine
Soman (GD) - cholinesterase inhibitor
GP - cholinesterase inhibitor
Skin contact and/or inhalation
Via inhalation: 70 LCt50
Via skin exposure:
50 LD50
Very rapid
Incapacitating effects occur within 1 to 10 minutes; lethal effects occur within 1 to 15 minutes
Effects seen in eyes (contraction of pupils, pain, dim or blurred vision), nose (runny nose), and airways (chest tightness)
Nausea and vomiting also possible
Twitching/convulsions result when skeletal muscle reached
Fluctuations in heart rate
Loss of consciousness and seizure activity can occur within one minute of exposue in cases of exposure to high concentration of agent
Eventual paralysis, death
Thickened Soman (GD or VR-55) - cholinesterase inhibitor (USSR)
Black Rain - Unknown compound that causes instant death; used by USSR. in Afghanistan.
Novichok - Recently developed choline sterase inhibitor (USSR). May affect human genes and thus damage could be genetically transmitted to offspring.
Skin contact and/or inhalation
Very rapid
Novichok 5 estimated to exceed effectiveness of VX by 5 to 8 times
Novichok 7 estimated to exceed effectiveness of soman by 10 times.
OTHER
Blue X - Unknown composition. Incapacitating variously estimated for 1-2 and 8-12 hours
(U.S.S.R.)
In 1982 the Soviets began a top-secret CW development program code-named Foliant at the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology in Moscow (2). The program had the apparent goal of developing new binary weapons in response to the Reagan
administration's CW initiatives. By 1987 Soviet scientists created a new binary nerve gas they called Novichok (pronounced no-wee-shok). Novichok (which means newcomer) has been
described as "a new toxic agent ... an injury with it is practically incurable ... those who were once affected with this toxic agent have remained disabled for the rest of their lives .
(1)." The new nerve gas may even be 10 times stronger than VX gas, the most powerful weapon in the U.S. arsenal (3).
The first is Russia's recent development of a far more lethal and persistent family of binary chemical substances known as Novichok (Russian for "newcomer") agents. The second is
the possible development of a new class of biological agents known as bioregulators.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Russia produced several new agents that were made of chemicals
not controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention. These agents, referenced by a variety of code names including Substance 33, A-230, A-232, A-234, Novichok-5, Novichok-7, are geared for the deployment of binaries munitions that use two agents that are benign when kept separate, but lethal when mixed. Indeed, these chemical are at least as toxic and persistent as the most lethal nerve agent, VX, and some are reported to be ten times as toxic. At the same time, they are far more difficult to detect and far easier to manufacture covertly since they can be made with common chemicals in relatively simple pesticide factories.
Finally, unlike VX, which can be defeated quickly with injectable antidotes, Novichok agents are at least as resistant to treatment as soman.Clearly, these agents are much more attractive for military use than traditional agents. If delivery were accomplished covertly with special forces, there might not be any warning and targeted troops would be unable to
don protective gear before lethal exposure. Also, given these agents' persistence and lethality, far less would be needed to accomplish any given mission.
As of late 1993, defector Mirzayanov believed that Russia had only produced a few tens of tons of Novichok agents for experimental use. Still, there is cause for concern because Novichok agents are made of benign industrial and agricultural chemicals and can be made quickly in quantity. There is far less need to produce and stockpile vast quantities of agent or controlled precursors in advance. In addition, despite several defectors' public
revelations, the Russian government has never formally admitted developing these agents and a disturbing division of Russian expert opinion still exists over the utility of retaining
chemical weapons. Many Russian military experts see chemical agents as yesterday's weapon, but others believe that chemical weapons, especially the new Novichok agents, are a needed
additional deterrent.
"A-232 is made from industrial and agricultural chemicals that are not lethal until mixed and that never had been used for poison gas... "
"These new agents are as toxic as VX (a persistent nerve agent), as resistant to treatment as Soman (a non-persistent but deadly poison gas) and more difficult to detect and easier to
manufacture than VX...
"The report says A-232 and its delivery means have `passed Moscow's rigorous military acceptance testing and can be quickly fielded in unitary or binary form... "
By using chemicals not specified in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) schedules, the Russians can produce A-232 and its ethyl analog A-234, in unitary or binary form within
several chemical complexes.'...
"The Russians can make the binary, or two part, version of the nerve agent using a common industrial solvent acetonitrile and an organic phosphate compound `that can be disguised as
a pesticide precursor.' In another version, soldiers need only add alcohol to form the agent, the report says...
Russian chemical arsenal
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yperite--690 metric tons (only in tanks; storage
site--base at Gornyy settlement, Saratov Oblast),
lewisite--6625 metric tons in tanks (storage sites--6400 metric
tons at Kambarka in Udmurtia, and 225 metric tons at Gornyy
settlement, Saratov Oblast) and 10 percent of the total amount
of lewisite, i.e. roughly 730 metric tons, in munitions (storage
site--Kizner settlement in Udmurtia),
mixtures of yperite and
lewisite--210 metric tons in tanks (storage site--Gornyy
settlement) and roughly 4.3 metric tons in munitions (storage
site--Maradykovskiy settlement, Kirov Oblast),
phosgene--5 metric tons in munitions (storage site--Shchuchye, Kurgan
Oblast).
Thus, the total is 8260 metric tons, even though the declared [102] stockpiles of first
generation TC (without phosgene) amount to 7700 metric tons. About 32,300 metric tons of OTC
presented by the army (all in munitions) is distributed by types of TC as follows [36, 43]:
sarin--11,700 metric tons,
soman--4800 metric tons,
V-gas--15,200 metric tons.
In 1993 (after discussion in the press [27, 83]), new data [96] were added to the 42,020
tons about TC which in accordance with the Convention on Chemical Disarmament [31] are
irritating TC (irritants) rather than combat agents, and therefore in discussion are taken
out of parentheses by army representatives [21]:
3200 metric tons of adamsite (buried on the territory
of the military-chemical base at Shikhany),
3400 metric tons of other irritants (chloroacetophenone, CS gas)
in steel and polyethylene drums (storage site not published).
In 1987, representatives of the diplomatic corps and press were shown 19 specimens of
chemical munitions alleged to be deployed at the time in armament of the SA [25, 26]. In
addition to combat grenades of the Soviet Army with "riot control" CS gas, these included 18
other kinds of chemical munitions that can be subdivided into several groups.
A. 6 types of munitions charged with first generation TC:
122-mm artillery shells with lewisite (3.3 kg of concentrated lewisite),
152-mm artillery shells with lewisite (5.4 kg),
100-kg aircraft bomb charged with yperite-lewisite mixture (28 kg charge),
100-kg aircraft bomb charged with yperite-lewisite mixture (39 kg charge),
500-kg aircraft spray rig charged with yperite-lewisite mixture (164 kg of TC),
1500-kg aircraft spray rig charged with yperite-lewisite mixture (630 kg of TC).
B. 8 types of munitions charged with OTC--sarin and soman:
122-mm non-rocket artillery shells (1.3 kg of sarin),
130-mm non-rocket artillery shells (1.6 kg of sarin),
152-mm non-rocket artillery shells (2.8 kg of sarin),
122-mm rocket artillery shells (3.1 kg of sarin),
140-mm rocket artillery shells (2.2 kg of sarin),
240-mm rocket artillery shells (8.0 kg of sarin),
250-kg aircraft bombs (49 kg of sarin),
350-kg aircraft spray rigs (with 45 kg of concentrated soman).
C. 4 types of munitions charged with "VX" OTC:
130-mm non-rocket artillery shells (1.4 kg charge),
122-mm non-rocket artillery shells (2.9 kg),
540-mm nose sections of tactical missiles (216 kg of V-gas),
884-mm nose sections of tactical missiles (555 kg of concentrated V-gas).
As to the time limits of possible storage of chemical munitions charged with OTC, in the opinion of the chief of RCB forces, General S. V. Petrov, our chemical weapons "may be kept for a long, long time yet with an absolute guarantee of safety" [15]. From the standpoint of his deputy General I. B. Yevstafyev, most of the stockpiles of chemical weapons of Russia can be stored for more than 50 years with complete guarantee of safety.
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