Amid continued bombardment campaigns by the Russian forces in Ukraine, and despite all efforts to establish humanitarian corridors in the country, Russia has been accused by Ukrainian government officials of using white phosphorus bombs in its attacks in major Ukrainian cities as white clouds had allegedly appeared in the skies. Videos of the so-called usage of white phosphorus munitions have surfaced online. However, we could not independently verify these sources.

Ukrainian First Deputy Minister of Education and Science Inna Sovsun tweeted a video of an alleged Russian attack using white phosphorus munitions in Popasna, located in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. Sovsun stated that “These are incendiary chemical weapons! This is a crime against humanity! This is forbidden by the Geneva Convention! I’m afraid that civilians will suffer. They will burn alive. #NoFlyZone NOW!”

The Popasna Head of Police Oleksi Biloshytsky also claimed that the chemical weapon had been used in the city. He claimed that Russia had been using an old Nazi tactic of killing people, a tactic called the ‘flaming onion’ he wrote.

“It’s what the Nazis called a ‘flaming onion,’ and that’s what the Russcists (a combination of the words ‘Russians’ and ‘fascists’) are dropping on our towns. Indescribable suffering and fires,” he said.

Other accounts of white phosphorus have also been reported by Markiyan Lubkivsky, an official from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. He stated that the Russians were using the same tactics they used in Syria, claiming that Putin’s plan is to make Ukrainian cities like Aleppo. His account of the Russians using white phosphorous bombs was in the city of Lutsk in Western Ukraine.