Marc-Michael Blum Profile picture
(Bio)chemist who tries to help other people saving the world from the bad guys messing around with chemical and biological weapons. Former Head OPCW Laboratory.
May 2 16 tweets 5 min read
Yesterday the US accused Russia of using chloropicrin in the war in Ukraine in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. What is Chloropicrin, what about the use of tear gas (CS/CN) and why does it matter? A short thread. state.gov/imposing-new-m… For many months there have been repeated (hundreds) reports regarding the use of tear gas grenades by Russian forces. Most prominent is the use of the K-51 hand grenade containing the the riot control agents CS (2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile) cat-uxo.com/explosive-haza…
Feb 20, 2023 10 tweets 3 min read
Over the past months different people and groups have repeatedly asked @OPCW to investigate allegations of the use of Chemical Weapons in different conflicts. You often read "Where is OPCW?". Let me shortly explain why this won't work and why @OPCW is not to blame. (thread) Apart from the fact that these requests are quite often accompanied by photos or videos as "evidence" which are more than questionable the main point here is how investigations into alleged use of CW are triggered and executed.
Apr 23, 2022 10 tweets 5 min read
So the head of the Russian NBC-defense troops Gen. Kirillov accused the US of a WMD provocation against RU in a briefing today. English translation of the statement is here: telegra.ph/Briefing-on-a-… ... #Chemical #Biological #Nuclear #Weapons If you make accusations you normally want to provide some kind of proof or context. RU claims to have such information but falls short providing details. I will refrain from commenting on the "success of RU in conducting the special military operation":
Apr 12, 2022 25 tweets 5 min read
As I already posted there is just not enough information on the alleged use of toxic chemicals in #Mariupol at this point but I see arguments being made that RU cannot use chemical weapons because they destroyed theirs under @OPCW verification. It’s worth looking at this (thread) When a country joins the Chemical Weapons Convention it has to file an initial declaration to the OPCW. These declarations are not public.
Mar 15, 2022 19 tweets 5 min read
So we heard a lot about "#BiolabsinUkraine" and an alleged biological weapons program carried out in them funded by the US. A thread about which this is nuts and a look back in history. Once upon a time there was a country called the Soviet Union. A country with vast amounts of nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and a hidden biological weapons program. Due to historical events that we all know the SU was about to break apart.
Mar 10, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
A lot has been said about the Russian TOS-1(A) system in recent days but there are a few things that amaze me more than its thermobaric missiles... Image These MRLS are not operated by the Russian (rocket) artillery troops but by the Russian NBC Protection troops Image
Nov 8, 2021 10 tweets 3 min read
And the Art IX saga at the @OPCW regarding the #Navalny poisoning enters another round. Note verbale by the Russian Federation from 2 November: opcw.org/sites/default/… A few observations (thread). RU refutes the replies by UK, GER, FR and SWE saying "the responses [...] do not contain the necessary information and [the RU side] perceives them to be formalities with no substance that are propagandistic in nature"