Chemical weapons Ukraine: What is chemical and biological weapons and Russia go cross line for di Ukraine war?

Russia bin call special emergency meeting of di UN Security Council on Friday to discuss dia claim say Ukraine plan to develop biological weapons. Ukraine and di US don dismiss dis claim as a "false flag" - a claim wey Russia make to justify dia possible use of chemical weapon against cities for Ukraine.

Ukraine get legit laboratories wia goment tok say scientists dey work to protect di population from diseases like Covid. Sake of say Ukraine dey now experience war, di World Health Organisation (WHO) don ask Ukraine to destroy any dangerous pathogens for dia laboratories.

So wetin be chemical weapons exactly and how e dey different from bio-weapons?

Chemical weapons na any kind of weapon wey carry toxins or chemical substances wey fit affect di body system.

Different categories of chemical weapons na im dey. Choking agents like phosgene swy attack di lungs and respiratory system, and dis wan go cause di victim to drown in wetin dia lungs dey secrete.

Blister agents dey, like mustard gas, wey fit burn di skin and blind pipo.

And di most deadly categories of all na nerve agents, wey dey interfere wit di brain message to di body muscles. A tiny drop of dis fit dey very deadly. Less dan 0.5mg of VX nerve agent, for example, fit kill adult.

And dme fit use all of dis so-called chemical agents in artillery shells, bombs and missiles. But all of dem dey banned by di Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, wey many nations sign, including Russia.

Global organisation wey dey monitor chemical weapons dey di Hague, Netherlands, and dia name na OPCW - di Organisation for di Prohibition of Chemical Weapons - wey dey monitor di unlawful use of dis weapons and try to prevent plenty production.

Dem don use dem for war in di past - for World War One, for di Iran-Iraq war wey happun for 1980s, and more recently di Syrian goment use am against rebel forces.

Russia tok say dem destroy di last of dia chemical weapons for 2017 but since den, Moscow don chop blame ontop two chemical attacks.

'Dem don cross red line before'

Di first na di Salisbury attack of March 2018 wen a former KGB officer and defector, Sergei Skripal, bin dey poisoned along wit im daughter by di nerve agent Novichok. Russia say no be dem dey responsible and dem come up wit over 20 different explanations on who fit dey responsible.

But investigators conclude say na di work of two officers from Russia GRU military intelligence and as a result, several kontris expel 128 Russian spies from dia kontri. Den, for August 2020, dem also poison ogbonge Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny wit Novichok but im narrowly escape death.

So Russia go use chemical weapons for Ukraine so?

If Russia use weapons like poison gas for dia war, na im be say dem don cross major red line and di West go receive call to take decisive action.

Evidence no dey say Russia use di weapons wen dem help dia ally to defeat rebels for Syria but dem provide massive military support for di regime of Bashar al-Assad wey allegedly carry out dozens of chemical attacks on im own pipo.

Di fact na say for inside war wey don too tey, di military wey dey attack dia enemies wey dey defend fit use chemical weapons to break dis defence. Na wetin Syria do for Aleppo be dis.

Wetin be biological weapons?

Meanwhile, biological weapons dey different from chemical weapons. Na phrase wey dem use describe di weaponisation of dangerous pathogens like Ebola.

Di problem be say grey area dey between working to protect your population from pathogens wey dey harmful, and secretly working on how to use dem as a weapon.

Russia no produce any immediate evidence of dia allegation against Ukraine. But dem call for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss dia claims.

Wen Russia bin dey part of di Soviet Union dem control massive biological weapons programme wey one agency called Biopreparat bin run. Di agency bin employ about 70,000 pipo.

Afta di end of di Cold War, scientists bin dismantle am. Dem realise say di Soviets don mass produce and turn anthrax, smallpox and oda diseases into weapon afta dem test dem on live monkeys for one island for southern Russia.

Dem bin don even load anthrax spores into di warheads of long-range inter-continental missiles wey dem aim at Western cities.

Finally, inside dis non-conventional weapons, e get one wey be "dirty bomb" - a normal explosive wey dey surrounded by radioactive elements. E dey known as an RDD - a radiological dispersal device. E fit be conventional explosive wey dey carry radioactive isotope such as Cesium 60 or Strontium 90.

E no fit kill more pipo dan a normal bomb, initially at least. But e fit make area wey be di size of London borough dey unpleasant for pipo to live until dem decontaminate di area.

A dirty bomb na almost like a psychological weapon, wey dem design to cause panic among population and undermine di morale of a society. We never see make dem use am much for war. Dis na sake of say e dey dangerous and dey difficult to handle and e dey expose di user to personal risk.