The Foreign Office is trying to verify reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in an attack on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Liz Truss has said.
“Reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of Mariupol. We are working urgently with partners to verify details,” the Foreign Secretary wrote on Twitter.
“Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict and we will hold Putin and his regime to account.”
Ukrainian lawmaker Ivanna Klympush said Russia had used an “unknown substance” in Mariupol and that people were suffering from respiratory failure. “Most likely chem.weapons!” she tweeted.
Ukraine’s Azov battalion in a Telegram message earlier on Monday had claimed a Russian drone dropped a “poisonous substance” on Ukrainian troops and civilians in Mariupol.
The force also claimed that people were experiencing respiratory failure and neurological problems.
Follow the latest updates below.
12:37 AM
Russian spy chief ‘thrown in jail’
Vladimir Putin has thrown a top spy chief into prison amid concern over apparent leaks to the US about Russia’s plans in Ukraine, according to reports.
A report on Monday suggested Colonel General Sergei Beseda, the head of the FSB’s foreign intelligence unit, has been sent to Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, typically used to house those suspected of treason.
In the weeks preceding the invasion, US media repeatedly quoted intelligence sources that seemed to have a unique insight into the Kremlin’s preparations for the war.
Read more: Russian spy chief ‘thrown in jail’ as Vladimir Putin ‘turns on security officials’
11:52 PM
Three people ‘have clear signs of chemical poisoning’, Azov claim
Andrei Biletsky, the founder of Ukraine’s Azov battalion, has claimed that three people were suffering effects from an unknown toxic substance following an attack in Mariupol.
“Three people have clear signs of poisoning by warfare chemicals, but without catastrophic consequences,” he said in a video address on Telegram.
The claims have not been verified and are under investigation by the Foreign Office.
Senior Donetsk separatist official Eduard Basurin had spoken of the possibility of using chemical weapons against the southern port city that has resisted Russian bombardment for weeks.
Mr Basurin said the besieging forces could “turn to chemical troops who will find a way to smoke the moles out of their holes”, Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying on Monday.
Russia has denied committing any war crimes during its offensive in Ukraine.
