Russian troops are accused of carrying out illegal chemical attacks in Ukraine, dropping tear gas and other banned weapons of war on the front line 'daily'

Russian troops have been accused of carrying out 'daily' illegal chemical attacks on the Ukrainian front line.   

It has been reported that drones have been circling over multiple positions along the Ukrainian front and dropping 'tear gas and other chemicals', which are banned during wartime under the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

A commander of the Ukrainian army told the Telegraph: 'The only way for them to successfully attack us [is] with gas,' because his troops are so embedded  attacks with conventional artillery or drones firing missiles was difficult.

He added that once the gas strikes, even if it is not fatal, troops panic and 'the first instinct is to get out', after which they can be more easily picked off by Russian forces. 

Ukraine has claimed that there have been 626 gas related attacks by Russia since the outbreak of the war.  

Another commander from Robotnye, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast where there is an ongoing Russian offensive said that soldiers are now required to carry gas masks at all times, however often they are ex-soviet models therefore not very effective. 

One of these grenades was examined by the Telegraph, who reported that Rebekah Maciorowski, an American combat medic had received it from soldiers in the 53rd Mechanised Brigade 'whilst under fire because nobody believed they were being attacked with chemical weapons.'

She also claimed that last year she was on hand when a suspected hydrogen cyanide attack occurred.  

Marc-Michael Blum, a chemical weapons expert later confirmed the device received was a K-51 gas grenade, which are usually filled with tear gas. 

Over night Russian forces attacked Ukraine in Kharkiv with drones and missiles, killing at least six people and wounding 11 more, local officials reported.

On Saturday afternoon, a further strike on Kharkiv killed another person and left one more person wounded, said Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov. Another missile strike killed a civilian in the southern Odesa region, its governor Oleh Kiper reported.

Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov said missile strikes on the city damaged residential buildings, a petrol station, a kindergarten, a cafe, a shop and cars.

Overall, Russia fired 32 Iranian-made Shahed drones and six missiles at Ukraine overnight, according to the air force commander.

Ukrainian air defence forces shot down three cruise missiles and 28 drones, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk said in a statement.

'Russian killers continue to terrorise Ukrainians and attack Kharkiv and other peaceful cities,' he said.

The Russian military has not commented on the strikes but said that Ukraine on Saturday morning fired Vampire rockets at Russia.

All 10 of them were shot down over Russia's border region of Belgorod by air defence systems, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

On the ground in Ukraine, Russian forces were advancing, and pushing back against them was 'difficult', said Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's armed forces.

Syrskyi said the situation in the Bakhmut area in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region was particularly challenging.

He said Russian forces are carrying out offensive operations day and night, using assault groups with the support of armoured vehicles, as well as assaults on foot.

Fierce battles are taking place east of the town of Chasiv Yar, which Ukraine still controls and which is located near the occupied city of Bakhmut.

Russian forces are trying to break through defensive lines there, Syrskyi said on the messaging app Telegram, adding that 'Chasiv Yar remains under our control, all enemy attempts to break through to the settlement have failed'.

Near Avdiivka, another city in the Donetsk region held by the Russians, the fiercest battles were occurring in Pervomaiskyi and Vodyanyi, according to the official.

He also said the situation is tense on the southern and north-eastern parts of the front line.