Nato trains as Putin plots chemical attack

BRITISH and Nato forces will this week carry out chemical  warfare exercises in Arctic Norway.

- Marco Giannangeli

It comes after warnings that Russian troops are preparing to use chemical weapons to force Ukrainian cities into submission, as they did in Syria.

Such is the pace of the Russian advance now that experts warned Ukrainian troops would have to seal Kyiv with mines within the next two days.

The chemical warfare exercise is being led by France, which currently commands Nato’s Very High Readiness Brigade and has deployed its counter-chemical and biological task force to the town of Elverum.

US intelligence has warned of attempts by Russia to create a “false flag” scenario whereby it blames Ukraine for deploying chemical and biological weapons first. This has already begun, with claims by the Kremlin that the US has secret chemical laboratories in the country.