Death without color and smell

The number of victims The alleged chemical attack on April 4 in the Syrian city of Khan-Sheikhun in the province of Idlib, which is held by armed detachments of opposing president Bashar Assad, exceeded 70. According to the Syrian monitoring of human rights, half of the dead are women and children. Doctors suspect that a combat poisoning substance, most likely Zarin, was used during the attack, which is indicated by the characteristic symptoms of the dead and the victims. On the evening of April 5, the UN Security Council considers the resolution prepared by Western countries, condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which Moscow has already called "unacceptable."

Russia, supporting the Assad regime, said that on April 4, Syrian government aviation struck the Idlib Province on the ammunition warehouse with poisonous substances belonging to certain “terrorist militants” who also delivered them to Iraq. Damascus claims that outdated Su-22 ( modified Su-17s ), allegedly not intended for equipping chemical ammunition, participated in the air raid. However, numerous eyewitnesses on the spot say that they accurately saw government aircraft that dropped precisely fighting poisonous substances.

If the sarin was indeed used during the bombardment of Khan-Sheikhun, then we are talking about the terrible combat poisoning substance of the neuro-paralytic action , open in Germany in 1938, which, however, during the Second World War, even Adolf Hitler, who was afraid of a possible crushing response from the allies, did not dare to apply. The Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from 1997, whose participants are 188 states, prohibits, inter alia, the accumulation and production of Zarin. It was this substance, during the Cold War in large volumes produced in the USA and the Soviet Union, that was used during the Tokyo metro terrorist attack in 1994 by members of the Aum Sinrikyo religious sect.

Kirill Mikhailov , analyst of the International Investigative Group Conflict Intelligence Team, checking the open sources of the bombing and death of the civilian population in Syria , talks about which chemical weapon was probably used in the province of Idlib and what evidence is that it is: it is:

-All chemical weapons experts who analyzed the previous use of neuro-paralytic substances in Syria in 2013 say that it is also necessary to conduct a chemical analysis, but such signs as narrowing of the pupils, the reaction of the victims, the foam and convulsions say that something much more serious than the gas forces are used more or less regularly. If this is really a neuro-paralytic substance, then this case will be the first proven use of such substances since 2013, when hundreds of people in the suburbs of Damascus died.

- I also saw two versions: that it is either Zarin or chlorine. So who, according to your data, applied chemical ammunition in the city of Khan-Sheikhun and in what way?

- Most likely, chemical ammunition was applied by the side that used them with enviable regularity in the past few years. The UN and OPCW reports ( organizations for the prohibition of chemical weapons. - RS ) repeatedly accused pro -government forces of Syria of using then with artisanal ammunition, in the form of chlorine cylinders, or the same cylinders placed in home -made barrels , dumped from the Assada Air Force helicopters. In addition, it is known that the Syrian and/or Russian aviation has repeatedly inflicted air strikes in this area in the last weeks. This is due to the onset of Assad’s opponents south of the village of Khan-Sheikhun to the city of Hama, controlled by the Asadov forces. It is known that the day before, one of the hospitals in the largest village of Maarret-En-Nuuman was partially destroyed and that on the same day the headquarters of local civil defense, the so-called "white helmets", in the city of Khan Sheikhun, suffered from this. There are videos, as during the help of victims in hospitals, which, by the way, was illuminated by Syrian civilian journalists and media activists, one or more of these hospitals were subjected to airstrikes. So all this set of facts indicates, of course, that it was most likely the Assad forces, which, I repeat, also previously used chemical weapons.

- If we take a purely military aspect, how, with what frequency and in what way are these chemical ammunition are used? These are bombing from aircraft, these are blows from helicopters, the use of home -made ammunition that you mentioned? Or a missile, artillery shelling or mortar shelling? Because the methods, speaking of the military language, delivery, can be different.

- At the moment, Assad’s forces most often use precisely aviation, namely ammunition discharged from helicopters. Whereas the same chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus was carried out by Vulcan missiles, also filled with chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus. These were special ammunition, not homemade. Now these were airlines, since at the same time other raids occurred with them, using an ammunition of a high-explosive type. Their consequences are very clearly visible in various videos, where the pillars of smoke characteristic of such air strikes rise. Of course, the artillery shelling cannot be completely excluded, since the Khan-Sheikhun is in the radius of action of Assad artillery.

-But the funnel formed from ruptures, as you say, indicate that it was chemical ammunition, and not just fragmentation-fluid ones?

If we observed fragmentation explosions, there would be much more serious destruction

- Yes, because it is clear that the explosions were very small, in fact, they barely damaged the asphalt. This is characteristic of undermining a small charge , which initiates the spread of a poisonous substance. If we observed fragmentation-fluid explosions, there would be much more serious destruction and much larger funnels, which in this case we do not see.

- And who acts in this area against the government troops of Assad, for whom exactly the impacts were struck?

-There are a variety of groups in this area, from units of the Free Syrian Army, including the so-called “Idlib Free Army” , to the terrorist organizations recognized by the world community like “Hayat Tahr-Ash-Sham”, or “Jabhat Fath al-Sham”, this is the former organization “Jabhat An-Nusra” , which believes. Al-Kaida branch-branch in Syria and Lebanon. Although they say that they broke with al-Qaeda, it is difficult to prove it, and therefore, for example, the United States still apply air strikes in this group. But the main thing, it is clear that, of course, civilians were mainly affected here-however, the “Internet systems” of Assad will justify this fact that the former Jabhat al-Nusra acts in this province. It is difficult to say who exactly in this area controls, however, in any case, this does not justify strikes by local rescuers, hospitals and civilians with chemical ammunition, which are not ammunition of the electoral action and the use of which is prohibited.

- A few years ago, the chemical weapons, which are used by Bashar al -Assad’s troops, was constantly said, then these conversations began to be less often conducted. How did it happen?

- Just people, apparently, are already used to such things. Researchers of the Bellingcat team , which carefully studies this topic since 2013 (its founder Eliot Higgins and gained fame, investigating the very use of Zarin in Guta, the suburbs of Damascus), regularly note the use of chlorine ammunition, give evidence, photographs of the discarded cylinders, in which the chemical designation of the element is written: "chlorine", and so on. This information appears constantly, it is illuminated in the media, but not so often, and there are the latest UN reports, which also say that chemical weapons were used by Assad regularly. But in fact, the use of combat neuro-paralytic substances that we are talking about now (I repeat, one hundred percent still has not yet been proven), this is still something completely unprecedented in the last few years of the conflict in Syria. If so, it turns out that either Bashar Assad received this chemical weapon from somewhere, from his allies, Russia or, more likely, Iran, or somehow restored his own capacities for the production of chemical weapons-after he allegedly surrendered it to the world community under the supervision of Russian military.

- It is also interesting why right now he could decide on such an open use of chemical weapons, clearly anticipating the scale of the reaction and knowing that the traces could not be hidden?

The forces of the official Damascus are a rather amorphous education, where different field commanders refuel

- There are various versions, some connect his behavior with the recent commentary of the new head of the US State Department Rex Tillerson, who stated that the shift of Bashar al -Assad from the post of President of Syria is no longer a priority of the United States . Apparently, Assad could perceive this as a "carte blanche." It is quite obvious that now the US policy in the Middle East can reorient with the help of the Syrian anti -Assad opposition to fight the Islamic State group, during which the coalition of Washington is possible with both Moscow and even the Bashar al -Assad government itself, whom Donald Trump was still praised for the destruction of terrorists. And the other version is that this use of chemical weapons was not authorized in the highest echelons of the Syrian authorities. We perceive the Syrian regime and the Syrian government army as something monolithic, but in fact, as many researchers say, including those who have a lot of sources in Syria, the forces of the official Damascus are a rather amorphous education, where different field commanders, hiding behind the name of Assad. Some groups are fighting on his side, in reality loyal almost only to themselves and some kind of mafia clans, there are also groups loyal only to Iran. Now a new formation of the Fifth Corps has appeared the so -called, true, rather, already only to Russia, to which Moscow supplies equipment, advisers, and so on. Therefore, it is possible that some local commander, who gave an order to chemical attack, could not even receive permission to do this from Damascus.

- The USA today very sharply condemn the use of chemical weapons in Syria . At the same time, all the fault of the current administration in Washington is entrusted to the "too soft" previous US President Barack Obama, who was proud that he escaped a big war in Syria because of Assad's chemical weapons.

- Today I read literally 20 tweets of Trump, which he wrote in 2013, speaking very abruptly against the use of missiles and airstrikes against the forces of Bashar al -Assad after a chemical attack in Guta. He repeatedly spoke out in the spirit that the United States needs to intervene in the war in Syria, there is no need to help "terrorists" there, but it is necessary to solve problems within the United States themselves. It would be logical to assume that his opinion on this subject has not changed much.

- There is also a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense that all this chemical attack is the consequences of the bombardment of the chemical weapon warehouse themselves.

-This version is distributed on Twitter by the Priasadovsky trolls and some blogs that also support Bashar al-Assad, such as the same Al-Masdar News . Now the Russian Ministry of Defense says that in Moscow there are some data of "objective control", but we do not see any such data, no pictures, satellite or drones. In addition, they claim that these chemical ammunition was supposedly supplied by militants to Iraq. This statement does not withstand any criticism simply because it is known that both Jabhat al-Nusra and the more moderate groups operating in the province of Idlib are at war with the “Islamic state”, and in previous years they also fought against these radical Islamists, and therefore it would be strange if they supplied them with chemical weapons.

It is known that ISIS has capacities for the production of chemical weapons in the territory of Iraq itself

In addition, ISIS has capacities for the production of chemical weapons in the territory of Iraq itself - since these objects are periodically bombed by the Americans, and they are occupied by the government Iraqi army, which detects the liberated territories in the Iraq factory for the production of chemical weapons. That is, it would be strange to take him there from Syria. Moreover, literally a few kilometers from the village of Khan Sheikhun, very heavy battles between supporters and opponents of Assad have now begun, and the latter would be logical to use chemical weapons, if they wanted, in this territory in the first place.

In addition, the Russian military claims that the symptoms that the experts of the Ministry of Defense determined according to social networks correspond to symptoms that were supposedly observed when using chemical weapons by the rebels in Aleppo. However, I carefully studied the statements of the Russian and Syrian authorities about the use of chemical weapons by militants, and it is quite unequivocally said that chlorine was used. Moreover, it is not clear in this case, who then used it. Since the Syrian military also very actively used chlorine in Aleppo, as international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, for example. And at that time there were no serious symptoms as those that are observed in Khan-Sheikhun, characteristic of the use of neuro-paralytic poisonous substances. I think that in Moscow this version was simply quickly blinded, they thought that they could, so that the successor of Churkin Peter Ilyichev had the opportunity to protect himself at a meeting of the UN Security Council and impose a veto on any anti -Asadov resolution - on the basis of these data supposedly objective control that the Russian side is supposedly had, ”Kirill Mikhailov is sure.

On Wednesday evening, on April 5, Russia stated that it considers the UN resolution proposed by Western countries to condemn the chemical attack in Syria. According to the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova , the document should not be accepted in its current form, since it is “clearly anti -Syrian in nature” and can further aggravate the situation in the region.

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  Alexander GOSTEV

  The editor of the RS information service, international observer, author and editor of the heading and podcast "Atlas of the World"

  Gosteva@rferl.org