Russian president said ‘we didn’t have a choice’ over military operation; pro-Russian forces in Donetsk issue denial of using chemical agent. 

A chemical weapons expert is urging caution over claims that chemical weapons may have been used during an attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, noting that there remains “a paucity of information” about what happened.

Dan Kaszeta, from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said it is “legitimately difficult” to assess these situations remotely, particularly when relying on mainly second-hand or third-hand reports instead of evidence from the scene.

The symptoms that the Ukrainian soldiers are reportedly showing, such as difficulty breathing, “does not tell us much”, he said.

What we really have is people being dizzy. What we don’t have is signs and symptoms (and any kind of medical diagnostics) that narrow the investigative focus to chemicals, let alone a specific chemical warfare agent.

A British man fighting in Ukraine has said his unit has no choice but to surrender to Russian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol, his family and friends told the BBC.

Aiden Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, is a marine in the Ukrainian military after moving to Ukraine in 2018. Over the past few weeks, his unit has been defending the southern port city of Mariupol, which has come under heavy bombardment by Russian forces.

His mother, Ang Wood, told the BBC:

He called me and said they have no weapons left to fight. I love my son. He is my hero. They put up one hell of a fight.But he sounded OK. Boris [Johnson] needs to take Putin down.

A friend of Aslin also said he had spoken to him by phone and was told the unit had no food, ammunition or supplies, leaving them no option but to surrender.

He said:

They can’t get out. They can’t fight back. So they had no choice. I’m sure sure if they had a bullet left, they would have shot it.

Russia has previously threatened to bring criminal prosecution against any foreigners who travel to Ukraine to fight.

A Russian defence ministry spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov, said “none of the mercenaries the west is sending to Ukraine to fight” would be considered “combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law or enjoy the status of prisoners of war”.

However, Aslin is a member of the Ukrainian marines and not a foreign mercenary. According to reports, he was in his fourth year with the Ukrainian armed forces.