Who invented chemical weapons. Types of chemical weapons, the history of their origin and destruction. Chemical weapons of mass destruction

home On the night of July 12-13, 1917 German army

During the First World War, she was the first to use the poisonous gas mustard gas (a liquid poisonous substance with a blister effect on the skin). The Germans used mines that contained an oily liquid as a carrier of the toxic substance. This event took place near the Belgian city of Ypres. The German command planned with this attack to disrupt the offensive of the Anglo-French troops. When mustard gas was first used, 2,490 military personnel suffered injuries of varying severity, of whom 87 died. UK scientists quickly deciphered the formula for this agent. However, the production of a new toxic substance was launched only in 1918. As a result, the Entente was able to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice). Mustard gas has a clearly defined local effect: the agent affects the organs of vision and breathing, skin

and gastrointestinal tract. The substance, absorbed into the blood, poisons the entire body. Mustard gas affects human skin when exposed, both in droplet and vapor states. The usual summer and winter uniform did not protect the soldier from the effects of mustard gas, as did almost all types of civilian clothing. Ordinary summer and winter army uniforms do not protect the skin from drops and fumes of mustard gas, as do almost any types of civilian clothing. There was no complete protection of soldiers from mustard gas in those years, so its use on the battlefield was effective until the very end of the war. The First World War was even called the “war of chemists”, because neither before nor after this war were chemical agents used in such quantities as in 1915-1918. During this war, the fighting armies used 12 thousand tons of mustard gas, which affected up to 400 thousand people. In total, during the First World War, more than 150 thousand tons of toxic substances (irritant and tear gases, blister agents) were produced. The leader in the use of chemical agents was the German Empire, which had a first-class. In total, Germany produced more than 69 thousand tons of toxic substances. Germany was followed by France (37.3 thousand tons), Great Britain (25.4 thousand tons), USA (5.7 thousand tons), Austria-Hungary (5.5 thousand), Italy (4.2 thousand . tons) and Russia (3.7 thousand tons).

"Attack of the Dead" The Russian army suffered the largest losses from exposure to chemical agents among all participants in the war. The German army was the first to use poison gas as a means of mass destruction on a large scale during the First World War against Russia. On August 6, 1915, the German command used explosive agents to destroy the garrison of the Osovets fortress. The Germans deployed 30 gas batteries, several thousand cylinders, and on August 6 at 4 am a dark green fog of a mixture of chlorine and bromine flowed onto the Russian fortifications, reaching the positions in 5-10 minutes. A gas wave 12-15 m high and up to 8 km wide penetrated to a depth of 20 km. The defenders of the Russian fortress had no means of defense. Every living thing was poisoned.

Following the gas wave and a barrage of fire (German artillery opened massive fire), 14 Landwehr battalions (about 7 thousand infantrymen) went on the offensive. After the gas attack and artillery strike, no more than a company of half-dead soldiers, poisoned by chemical agents, remained in the advanced Russian positions. It seemed that Osovets was already in German hands. However, Russian soldiers showed another miracle. When the German chains approached the trenches, they were attacked by Russian infantry. It was a real “attack of the dead,” the sight was terrible: Russian soldiers walked into the bayonet line with their faces wrapped in rags, shaking with a terrible cough, literally spitting out pieces of their lungs onto their bloody uniforms. It was only a few dozen soldiers - the remnants of the 13th company of the 226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment. The German infantry fell into such horror that they could not withstand the blow and ran. Russian batteries opened fire on the fleeing enemy, who, it seemed, had already died. It should be noted that the defense of the Osovets fortress is one of the brightest, heroic pages of the First World War. The fortress, despite brutal shelling from heavy guns and assaults by German infantry, held out from September 1914 to August 22, 1915.

Russian empire in the pre-war period it was a leader in the field of various “peace initiatives”. Therefore, it did not have chemical agents or countermeasures in its arsenals similar types weapons, did not conduct serious research work in this direction. In 1915, it was necessary to urgently establish a Chemical Committee and urgently raise the issue of developing technologies and large-scale production of toxic substances. In February 1916, the production of hydrocyanic acid was organized at Tomsk University by local scientists. By the end of 1916, production was organized in the European part of the empire, and the problem was generally solved. By April 1917, the industry had produced hundreds of tons of toxic substances. However, they remained unclaimed in warehouses.

The first use of chemical weapons in the First World War

The 1st Hague Conference in 1899, which was convened at the initiative of Russia, adopted a declaration on the non-use of projectiles that spread asphyxiating or harmful gases. However, during the First World War, this document did not prevent the great powers from using chemical warfare agents, including on a massive scale.

In August 1914, the French were the first to use tear irritants (they did not cause death). The carriers were grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate). Soon its supplies ran out, and the French army began to use chloroacetone. In October 1914, German troops used artillery shells partially filled with a chemical irritant against British positions at Neuve Chapelle. However, the concentration of OM was so low that the result was barely noticeable.

On April 22, 1915, the German army used chemical agents against the French, spraying 168 tons of chlorine near the river. Ypres. The Entente powers immediately announced that Berlin had violated the principles international law, but the German government parried this accusation. The Germans stated that the Hague Convention prohibits only the use of explosive shells, but not gases. After this, chlorine attacks began to be used regularly. In 1915, French chemists synthesized phosgene (a colorless gas). It has become a more effective agent, having greater toxicity than chlorine. Phosgene was used in pure form and in a mixture with chlorine - to increase gas mobility.

Chemical weapon– this is an OM in combination with the means of their application. It is intended for mass destruction of people and animals, as well as contamination of terrain, weapons, equipment, water and food.

History has preserved many examples of the use of poisons for military purposes. But even the occasional use of toxic substances in wars, contamination of water sources, abandonment of besieged fortresses poisonous snakes was severely condemned even in the laws of the Roman Empire.

For the first time chemical weapons were used on western front in Belgium by the Germans against the Anglo-French troops on April 22, 1915. In a narrow area (6 km wide), 180 tons of chlorine were released in 5-8 minutes. As a result of the gas attack, about 15 thousand people were defeated, of which over 5 thousand died on the battlefield.

This attack is considered the beginning of chemical warfare; it showed the effectiveness of a new type of weapon when suddenly used massively against unprotected personnel.

New stage the development of chemical weapons in Germany began with the adoption of weapons b,b 1 dichlorodiethyl sulfide - a liquid substance with a general toxic and blister effect. It was first used on June 12, 1917 near Ypres in Belgium. Within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing 125 tons of this substance were fired at the positions. 2,500 people were defeated. The French called this substance "mustard gas" after its place of application, and the British called it "mustard gas" because of its characteristic odor.

In total, during the First World War, 180,000 tons of various chemical agents were produced, of which about 125,000 tons were used. At least 45 different chemical substances were tested in combat, including 4 blister agents, 14 asphyxiants and at least 27 irritating action.

Modern chemical weapons have an extremely high lethal effect. For several years, the United States used chemical weapons on a large scale in the war against Vietnam. At the same time, more than 2 million people were affected, vegetation was destroyed on 360 thousand hectares of cultivated land and 0.5 million hectares of forest.

Great importance is given to the development of a new type of chemical weapon - binary chemical munitions intended for massive combat use in various theaters of war.

There are 4 periods in the development of chemical weapons:

I. First World War and the next decade. Combat agents were obtained that have not lost their significance in our time. These include sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, lewisite, phosgene, hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride, adamsite, chloroacetophenone. The adoption of gas launchers played a certain role in expanding the range of chemical agents used. The first gas launchers with a firing range of 1-3 km. were loaded with mines containing from 2 to 9 kg of suffocating agents. Gas launchers gave the first impetus to the development of artillery means of using chemical agents, which sharply reduced the preparation time for a chemical attack, making it less dependent on meteorological conditions, and the use of chemical agents in any state of aggregation. At this time, most countries concluded an interstate agreement, which went down in history as the “Geneva Protocol on the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Similar Gases and Bacteriological Agents in War.” The treaty was signed on June 17, 1925, including by a representative of the US government, but it was ratified in this country only in 1975. Naturally, the protocol, due to how long ago it was compiled, does not include agents with nerve-paralytic and psychotomimetic effects, military herbicides and other toxic agents that appeared after 1925. That is why the USSR and the USA entered into an agreement in 1990. agreement on a significant reduction in existing chemical agents reserves. By December 31, 2002, almost 90% of the chemical arsenal must be destroyed in both countries, with no more than 5,000 tons of chemical agents remaining on each side.

II. Thirties - World War II.
In Germany, research was carried out to find highly toxic OPs. The production of FOV was obtained and established - tabun (1936), sarin (1938), soman (1944). In accordance with Plan Barbarossa, preparations were made for chemical warfare in Hitler's Reich. However, Hitler did not dare to use chemical weapons in combat, due to a possible retaliatory chemical attack on the deep rear of the Reich (Berlin) by our aviation.
Tabun, sarin and hydrocyanic acid were used in the death camps for the mass extermination of prisoners.

III. Fifties.
In 1952, mass production of sarin began. In 1958, a highly toxic OPA was synthesized - V-gases (5-7 lethal doses in 1 drop). A study was conducted natural poisons and toxins.

IV. Modern period .
In 1962, a synthetic substance affecting the central nervous system, BZ, was studied. The super-irritating agents CS and CR, which were used in the war in Vietnam and the DPRK, were adopted into service. Toxin has appeared weapon - type chemical weapons based on the use of the damaging properties of toxic substances of protein origin produced by microorganisms, some species of animals and plants (tetroidotoxin - poison of the ball fish, batrachotoxin - poison of the cocoa frog, etc.). Since the early 1980s, large-scale production of binary chemical munitions began.

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Chemical weapons were invented by accident. In 1885, in the chemical laboratory of the German scientist Mayer, Russian student trainee N. Zelinsky synthesized a new substance. At the same time, a certain gas was formed, after swallowing which he ended up in a hospital bed.

So, unexpectedly for everyone, gas was discovered, later called mustard gas. Already a Russian chemist, Nikolai Dmitrievich Zelinsky, as if correcting the mistake of his youth, 30 years later invented the world's first coal gas mask, which saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

FIRST TESTS

In the entire history of confrontations, chemical weapons have been used only a few times, but they still keep all of humanity in suspense. Since the middle of the 19th century, poisonous substances have been part of military strategy: during Crimean War In the battles for Sevastopol, the British army used sulfur dioxide to smoke Russian troops out of the fortress. In the very late XIX century, Nicholas II made efforts to ban chemical weapons.

The result of this was the 4th Hague Convention of October 18, 1907, “On the Laws and Customs of War,” which prohibited, among other things, the use of asphyxiating gases. Not all countries have joined this agreement. Nevertheless, the majority of participants considered poisoning and military honor to be incompatible. This agreement was not violated until the First World War.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the use of two new means of defense - barbed wire and mines. They made it possible to contain even significantly superior enemy forces. The moment came when, on the fronts of the First World War, neither the Germans nor the Entente troops could knock each other out of well-fortified positions. Such a confrontation senselessly consumed time, human and material resources. But to whom is war, and to whom is mother dear...

It was then that the commercial chemist and future Nobel laureate Fritz Haber managed to convince the Kaiser's command to use combat gas to change the situation in their favor. Under his personal leadership, more than 6 thousand chlorine cylinders were installed on the front line. All that remained was to wait for a fair wind and open the valves...

On April 22, 1915, not far from the Ypres River, a thick cloud of chlorine moved in a wide strip from the direction of the German trenches towards the positions of the French-Belgian troops. In five minutes, 170 tons of deadly gas covered the trenches over 6 kilometers. Under its influence, 15 thousand people were poisoned, a third of them died. Any number of soldiers and weapons were powerless against the toxic substance. Thus began the history of the use of chemical weapons and came new era- era of weapons of mass destruction.

SAVING FOOT FOOT

At that time, the Russian chemist Zelensky had already presented his invention to the military - a coal gas mask, but this product had not yet reached the front. Preserved in the circulars of the Russian army next recommendation: in case of a gas attack, you must urinate on a footcloth and breathe through it. Despite its simplicity, this method turned out to be very effective at that time. Then the troops received bandages soaked in hyposulfite, which somehow neutralized the chlorine.

But German chemists did not stand still. They tested phosgene, a gas with a strong asphyxiating effect. Later, mustard gas was used, followed by lewisite. No dressings were effective against these gases. The gas mask was first tested in practice only in the summer of 1915, when the German command used poison gas against Russian troops in the battles for the Osovets fortress. By that time, the Russian command had sent tens of thousands of gas masks to the front line.

However, wagons with this cargo often stood idle on sidings. Equipment, weapons, manpower and food. It was because of this that the gas masks were only a few hours late to the front line. Russian soldiers repelled many German attacks that day, but the losses were enormous: several thousand people were poisoned. At that time, only sanitary and funeral teams could use gas masks.

Mustard gas was first used by the Kaiser's troops against the Anglo-Belgian forces two years later on July 17, 1917. It affected the mucous membrane and burned the insides. This happened on the same river Ypres. It was after this that it received the name “mustard gas”. For its colossal destructive ability, the Germans nicknamed it “the king of gases.” Also in 1917, the Germans used mustard gas against US troops. The Americans lost 70 thousand soldiers. In total, 1 million 300 thousand people suffered from chemical warfare agents in the First World War, 100 thousand of them died.

KICK YOUR OWN!

In 1921, the Red Army also used chemical warfare gases. But already against his own people. In those years, the entire Tambov region was gripped by unrest: the peasantry rebelled against the predatory surplus appropriation system. Troops under the command of M. Tukhachevsky used a mixture of chlorine and phosgene against the rebels. Here is an excerpt from order No. 0016 of June 12, 1921: “The forests where the bandits are located are to be cleaned with poisonous gases. Precisely calculate that the cloud of suffocating gases will spread throughout the entire massif, destroying everything that is hidden in it.”

During one gas attack alone, 20 thousand residents died, and in three months, two-thirds of the male population of the Tambov region was destroyed. This was the only case of the use of toxic substances in Europe after the end of the First World War.

SECRET GAMES

The First World War ended in defeat German troops and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was prohibited from developing and producing any types of weapons and training military specialists. However, on April 16, 1922, bypassing the Treaty of Versailles, Moscow and Berlin signed a secret agreement on military cooperation.

The production of German weapons and the training of military experts were established on the territory of the USSR. The Germans trained future tank crews near Kazan, and flight personnel near Lipetsk. A joint school was opened in Volsk, training specialists in chemical warfare. New types of chemical weapons were created and tested here. Near Saratov, joint research was carried out on the use of combat gases in war conditions, methods of protecting personnel and subsequent decontamination. All this was extremely beneficial and useful for the Soviet military - they learned from representatives best army that time.

Naturally, both sides were extremely interested in maintaining the strictest secrecy. The information leak could lead to a huge international scandal. In 1923, the joint Russian-German enterprise Bersol was built in the Volga region, where mustard gas production was established in one of the secret workshops. Every day, 6 tons of newly produced chemical warfare agent were sent to warehouses. However, the German side did not receive a single kilogram. Just before the plant was launched, the Soviet side forced the Germans to break the agreement.

In 1925, the heads of most states signed the Geneva Protocol prohibiting the use of asphyxiants and poisonous substances. However, again, not all countries signed it, including Italy. In 1935, Italian planes sprayed mustard gas over Ethiopian troops and civilian settlements. Nevertheless, the League of Nations treated this criminal act very leniently and did not take serious measures.

FAILED PAINTER

In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, who declared that the USSR posed a threat to peace in Europe and the revived German army had main goal destruction of the first socialist state. By this time, thanks to cooperation with the USSR, Germany had become a leader in the development and production of chemical weapons.

At the same time, Goebbels’ propaganda called poisonous substances the most humane weapon. According to military theorists, they make it possible to capture enemy territories without unnecessary casualties. It's strange that Hitler supported this.

Indeed, during the First World War, he himself, then still a corporal of the 1st company of the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, only miraculously survived an English gas attack. Blind and suffocating from chlorine, lying helplessly in a hospital bed, the future Fuhrer said goodbye to his dream of becoming a famous painter.

At that time, he seriously thought about suicide. And just 14 years later, the entire powerful military chemical industry of Germany stood behind the back of Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

COUNTRY IN GAS MASK

Chemical weapons have distinctive feature: it is not expensive to produce and does not require high technology. In addition, its presence allows you to keep any country in the world in suspense. That is why in those years chemical protection in the USSR became a national matter. No one doubted that toxic substances would be used in war. The country began to live in a gas mask in the literal sense of the word.

A group of athletes made a record-breaking campaign run in gas masks, 1,200 kilometers long, along the route Donetsk - Kharkov - Moscow. All military and civilian exercises involved the use of chemical weapons or their imitation.

In 1928, an aerial chemical attack using 30 aircraft was simulated over Leningrad. The next day, British newspapers wrote: “Chemical rain literally rained down on the heads of passers-by.”

WHAT WAS HITLER AFRAID OF

Hitler never decided to use chemical weapons, although in 1943 alone Germany produced 30 thousand tons of toxic substances. Historians claim that Germany came close to using them twice. But the German command was made to understand that if the Wehrmacht used chemical weapons, all of Germany would be flooded with a toxic substance. Given the enormous population density, the German nation would simply cease to exist, and the entire territory would turn into a desert, completely uninhabitable, for several decades. And the Fuhrer understood this.

In 1942 Kwantung Army used chemical weapons against Chinese troops. It turned out that Japan has made great progress in the development of air defense weapons. Capturing Manchuria and Northern China, Japan set its sights on the USSR. For this purpose, the latest chemical and biological weapons were developed.

In Harbin, in the center of Pingfang, a special laboratory was built under the guise of a sawmill, where victims were brought at night in the strictest secrecy for testing. The operation was so secret that even local residents They didn't suspect anything. Development plan the latest weapons mass destruction belonged to microbiologist Shir Issi. The scope is evidenced by the fact that 20 thousand scientists were involved in research in this area.

Soon Pingfang and 12 other cities were turned into death factories. People were seen only as raw material for experiments. All this went beyond any kind of humanity and humanity. The work of Japanese specialists in developing chemical and bacteriological weapons of mass destruction resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties among the Chinese population.

THE PLAGUE IS ON BOTH OF YOUR HOMES!..

At the end of the war, the Americans sought to obtain all the chemical secrets of the Japanese and prevent them from reaching the USSR. General MacArthur even promised Japanese scientists protection from prosecution. In exchange for this, Issy handed over all the documents to the United States. Not a single Japanese scientist was convicted, and American chemists and biologists received enormous and invaluable material. The first center for improving chemical weapons was the Detrick base, Maryland.

It was here that in 1947 there was a sharp breakthrough in the improvement of aerial spray systems, which made it possible to evenly treat large areas with toxic substances. In the 1950s and 1960s, the military conducted many experiments in absolute secrecy, including spraying the substance over more than 250 settlements, including cities such as San Francisco, St. Louis and Minneapolis.

The protracted war in Vietnam drew harsh criticism from the US Senate. The American command, in violation of all rules and conventions, ordered the use of chemicals in the fight against partisans. 44% of all forest areas South Vietnam was treated with defoliants and herbicides designed to remove foliage and completely destroy vegetation. Of the numerous species of trees and shrubs of the humid tropical forest only a few species of trees and several types of thorny grasses remained, unsuitable for livestock feed.

The total amount of vegetation control chemicals used by the US military from 1961 to 1971 was 90 thousand tons. The US military argued that its herbicides in small doses are not lethal to humans. Nevertheless, the UN adopted a resolution banning the use of herbicides and tear gas, and US President Nixon announced the closure of programs for the development of chemical and bacteriological weapons.

In 1980, war broke out between Iraq and Iran. The combatants appeared on the stage again chemical substances, not requiring high costs. Factories were built on Iraqi territory with the help of Germany, and S. Hussein was given the opportunity to produce chemical weapons within the country. The West turned a blind eye to the fact that Iraq began to use chemical weapons in the war. This was also explained by the fact that the Iranians took 50 American citizens hostage.

The brutal, bloody confrontation between Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini was considered a kind of revenge on Iran. However, S. Hussein used chemical weapons against his own citizens. Accusing the Kurds of conspiracy and aiding the enemy, he sentenced an entire Kurdish village to death. Nerve gas was used for this. The Geneva Agreement was grossly violated once again.

A FAREWELL TO ARMS!

On January 13, 1993, in Paris, representatives of 120 states signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. It is prohibited to produce, store and use. For the first time in world history, an entire class of weapons is about to disappear. Enormous reserves accumulated over 75 years industrial production, turned out to be useless.

From that moment on, everyone came under international control research centers. The situation can be explained not only by concern for the environment. States with nuclear weapons do not need competing countries with unpredictable policies, possessing weapons of mass destruction comparable in impact to nuclear weapons.

Russia has the largest reserves - 40 thousand tons are officially declared, although some experts believe that there are much more. In the USA - 30 thousand tons. At the same time, American chemical agents are packaged in barrels made of light duralumin alloy, the shelf life of which does not exceed 25 years.

The technologies used in the USA are significantly inferior to those in Russia. But the Americans had to hurry, and they immediately began burning chemical agents on Johnston Atoll. Since gas utilization in furnaces takes place in the ocean, there is virtually no risk of contamination of populated areas. The problem for Russia is that the stocks of this type of weapon are located in densely populated areas, which exclude this method of destruction.

Despite the fact that Russian chemical agents are stored in cast iron containers, the shelf life of which is much longer, it is not infinite. Russia first of all removed powder charges from shells and bombs filled with chemical warfare agents. At least there is no longer any danger of an explosion and the spread of chemical agents.

Moreover, with this step, Russia showed that it is not even considering the possibility of using this class of weapons. Also, reserves of phosgene produced back in the mid-40s of the 20th century were completely destroyed. The destruction took place in the village of Planovy, Kurgan region. This is where the main reserves of sarin, soman, and extremely toxic VX substances are located.

Chemical weapons were also destroyed in a primitive barbaric way. This happened in deserted areas Central Asia: a huge hole was dug, where a fire was lit, in which the deadly “chemistry” was burned. In almost the same way, in the 1950-1960s, hazardous substances were disposed of in the village of Kambar-ka in Udmurtia. Of course, in modern conditions this cannot be done, so a modern facility was built here to detoxify the 6 thousand tons of lewisite stored here.

The largest reserves of mustard gas are in the warehouses of the village of Gorny, located on the Volga, in the very place where the Soviet-German school once operated. Some containers are already 80 years old, while the safe storage of chemical agents requires increasing costs, because combat gases do not have an expiration date, but metal containers become unusable.

In 2002, an enterprise was built here, equipped with the latest German equipment and using unique domestic technologies: degassing solutions are used to disinfect chemical warfare gas. All this happens when low temperatures, excluding the possibility of explosion. This is a fundamentally different and safest way. There are no world analogues to this complex. Even rainwater does not leave the site. Experts assure that throughout this period there has not been a single leak of a toxic substance.

AT THE BOTTOM

More recently it arose new problem: Hundreds of thousands of bombs and shells filled with toxic substances have been discovered at the bottom of the seas. Rusted barrels are a time bomb of enormous destructive power, capable of exploding at any minute. The decision to bury German poisonous arsenals on the seabed was made by the Allied forces immediately after the end of the war. It was hoped that over time the containers would be covered with sediment and burial would become safe.

However, time has shown that this decision turned out to be wrong. Now three such cemeteries have been discovered in the Baltic: off the Swedish island of Gotland, in the Skagerrak Strait between Norway and Sweden, and off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm. Over several decades, the containers have rusted and are no longer able to provide airtightness. According to scientists, the complete destruction of cast iron containers can take from 8 to 400 years.

In addition, large stockpiles of chemical weapons were sunk near east coast USA and northern seas, under the jurisdiction of Russia. The main danger is that mustard gas has begun to leak out. The first result was mass death starfish in the Dvina Bay. Research data showed traces of mustard gas in a third sea ​​creatures this water area.

THE THREAT OF CHEMICAL TERRORISM

Chemical terrorism is a real danger threatening humanity. This is confirmed by the gas attack in the Tokyo and Mitsumoto subways in 1994-1995. From 4 thousand to 5.5 thousand people received severe poisoning. 19 of them died. The world shook. It became clear that any of us could become a victim of a chemical attack.

As a result of the investigation, it turned out that the sectarians acquired the technology for producing the toxic substance in Russia and managed to establish its production in the simplest conditions. Experts talk about several more cases of the use of chemical agents in the countries of the Middle East and Asia. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of militants were trained in Bin Laden's camps alone. They were also trained in methods of conducting chemical and bacteriological warfare. According to some sources, biochemical terrorism was the leading discipline there.

In the summer of 2002, Hamas threatened to use chemical weapons against Israel. The problem of non-proliferation of such weapons of mass destruction has become much more serious than it seemed, since the size of military shells allows them to be transported even in a small briefcase.

"SAND" GAS

Today, military chemists are developing two types of non-lethal chemical weapons. The first is the creation of substances, the use of which will have a destructive effect on technical means: from increasing the friction force of rotating parts of machines and mechanisms to breaking the insulation in conductive systems, which will lead to the impossibility of their use. The second direction is the development of gases that do not lead to the death of personnel.

A colorless and odorless gas acts on the central nervous system a person and disables him in a matter of seconds. While not lethal, these substances affect people, temporarily causing them to experience daydreams, euphoria, or depression. CS and CR gases are already used by police in many countries around the world. Experts believe that they are the future, since they were not included in the convention.

Alexander GUNKOVSKY

Chemical weapons are one of the three types weapons of mass destruction (the other 2 types are bacteriological and nuclear weapon). Kills people using toxins contained in gas cylinders.

History of chemical weapons

Chemical weapons began to be used by humans a very long time ago - long before the Copper Age. Back then people used bows with poisoned arrows. After all, it is much easier to use poison, which will surely slowly kill the animal, than to run after it.

The first toxins were extracted from plants - humans obtained them from varieties of the acocanthera plant. This poison causes cardiac arrest.

With the advent of civilizations, bans on the use of the first chemical weapons began, but these bans were violated - Alexander the Great used all chemicals known at that time in the war against India. His soldiers poisoned water wells and food warehouses. IN ancient Greece used the roots of the earthen grass to poison wells.

In the second half of the Middle Ages it began to develop rapidly alchemy- the predecessor of chemistry. Acrid smoke began to appear, driving away the enemy.

First use of chemical weapons

The French were the first to use chemical weapons. This happened at the beginning of the First World War. They say that safety rules are written in blood. Safety rules for using chemical weapons are no exception. At first there were no rules, there was only one piece of advice - when throwing grenades filled with poisonous gases, you must take into account the direction of the wind. Also, there have been no specific, tested substances that kill people 100% of the time. There were gases that did not kill, but simply caused hallucinations or mild suffocation.

April 22, 1915 German armed forces used mustard gas. This substance is very toxic: it severely injures the mucous membrane of the eye and respiratory organs. After using mustard gas, the French and Germans lost approximately 100-120 thousand people. And throughout the First World War, 1.5 million people died from chemical weapons.

In the first 50 years of the 20th century, chemical weapons were used everywhere - against uprisings, riots and civilians.

Main toxic substances

Sarin. Sarin was discovered in 1937. The discovery of sarin happened by accident - German chemist Gerhard Schrader was trying to create a stronger chemical against pests. agriculture. Sarin is a liquid. Affects the nervous system.

Soman. In 1944, Richard Kunn discovered soman. Very similar to sarin, but more poisonous - two and a half times more poisonous than sarin.

After World War II, the research and production of chemical weapons by the Germans became known. All research classified as “secret” became known to the allies.

VX. VX was discovered in England in 1955. The most poisonous chemical weapon created artificially.

At the first signs of poisoning, you need to act quickly, otherwise death will occur in about a quarter of an hour. Protective equipment is a gas mask, OZK (combined arms protective kit).

VR. Developed in 1964 in the USSR, it is an analogue of VX.

In addition to highly toxic gases, they also produced gases to disperse rioting crowds. These are tear and pepper gases.

In the second half of the twentieth century, more precisely from the beginning of 1960 to the end of the 1970s, there was a heyday of discoveries and development of chemical weapons. During this period, gases began to be invented that had a short-term effect on the human psyche.

Chemical weapons in our time

Currently most of chemical weapons is prohibited by the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.

The classification of poisons depends on the danger that the chemical poses:

• The first group includes all poisons that have ever been in the arsenal of countries. Countries are prohibited from storing any chemicals from this group in excess of 1 ton. If the weight is more than 100g, the control committee must be notified.
• The second group is substances that can be used for both military purposes and peaceful production.
• The third group includes substances that are used in large quantities in production. If the production produces more than thirty tons per year, it must be registered in the control register.

First aid for poisoning with chemically hazardous substances