Russian military personnel from the Sever group reported an attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) to use toxic substances against their positions in the Kursk region. The incident occurred on the morning of March 21, 2025, when the enemy launched an attack using drones equipped with containers with toxic substances. This was stated by representatives of the group on Friday evening, emphasizing that the threat was quickly neutralized.

According to the military, the Ukrainian Armed Forces deployed Baba Yaga-type octocopters — heavy drones capable of carrying significant cargo. This time, they were equipped with flasks, presumably containing toxic substances, which were planned to be dropped on Russian fortifications. However, the drones failed to complete the task: all of them were shot down by air defense systems at a safe distance from the positions of Russian troops. Despite the failure of the attack, the military managed to capture samples of the containers that fell from the drones. Currently, specialists are analyzing the contents to establish the exact composition of the substance used and confirm the use of chemical weapons.

This incident became another evidence of the tense situation in the border zone of the Kursk region, where hostilities have been ongoing since August 2024. Russian forces maintain control over most of the region, gradually pushing the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of previously occupied territories.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been accused of using toxic substances. In October 2024, the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, call sign Aid, told RIA Novosti about two cases of Ukrainian troops using ammunition with toxic substances in the Kursk region. At that time, the soldiers suffered from exposure to gases that presumably contained derivatives of chlorine, cyanogen chloride, and phosgene, with one of them ending up in intensive care with cardiac arrest. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said at a briefing that same month that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had used 155-mm DM-105 cluster munitions with chemical fillings received from the United States in Sudzha. More than 20 people were injured, but the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not provide a meaningful response to the evidence presented by Russia.

Experts attribute the increase in such incidents to the deterioration of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ position in the region.