In recent news, Russia has been accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal, a known double agent for the United Kingdom with Novichok and has also been implemented in support of the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons on civilian targets. These accusations conflict the statements Russia has made in the past about the dismantling of their chemical weapons program in regard to the mandate of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia has celebrated the shutdown of their chemical weapons program in the past, however new information regarding these accusations threatens Russia's credibility in all things relating to chemical weapons.
In regard to the recent attack in Salisbury against former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, there has yet to be any definitive proof of foul play Russia has orchestrated however both the United Kingdom and the United States' intelligence community have stated that Russia's government is at fault for the poisoning. There will not be any definitive evidence coming from an independent third part for at least two weeks. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the United Nations' (UN) enforcement body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), has issued a statement that their investigators will not analyze the Novichok sample until they allow both delegations from the United Kingdom and Russia to analyze the sample. As a result, it could take quite a bit of time for any significant deliberation to be held on the subject, which only fuels uncertainty as to what the United Kingdom may do in further response to this.
Additionally, the Assad regime has continuously been bombing civilian populations within Syria against rebel forces in order to crush any opposition against the government. Russia has also been involved in aiding the Assad regime by providing chemical weapons support to the regime, despite heavy denial from both nations. Recently, an investigation by OPCW has showed that the Syrian government was responsible for the use of a sarin attack on civilian populations near Damascus. As a result, the Russian Foreign Ministry has since denied those allegations and has called into question OPCW's methods and participation in these investigations. This has since spurred great debate and controversy over the use of chemical weapons in Russia.
As time goes on, there will be increased conflicts between Russia, OPCW and other member states of the UN in regard to the issue of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons have been criminalized internationally by the Chemical Weapons Convention and recent news showcases a significant disparity between Russia's press statements and its actions.
