bombardment by the russians and this is new drone video of mariupol theater where hundreds of people died last month after a russian strike there. many who died were women and children, seeking safety. and on monday, there were unconfirmed reports of a chemical attack in mariupol. cnn cannot independently verify that ukrclaim but both ukraine the u.s. say the threat of chemical attacks need to be taken seriously. translator: today, we heard a statement from the occupiers confirming they are preparing for a new stage in their terror against us and our defenders. one of the spokespeople of the invaders said they are considering using chemical weapons against the defenders of mariupol. we take it very seriously. there was credible information available to us that the russians may have been preparing to use agents, chemical agents, potentially tear gas mixed with other agents as part of an effort to weaken, to incapacitate the ukrainian military and civilian elements that are entrenche
that they ve feared that russia might use teargas mixed with other types of chemical agents, and so that is presumably based on intelligence, so perhaps teargas, perhaps chlorine which is another type of commonly available chemical agent that can also cause respiratory conditions. can also cause respiratory conditions. did this surprise ou? conditions. did this surprise you? unfortunately - conditions. did this surprise you? unfortunately it - conditions. did this surprise i you? unfortunately it doesn t. russia was you? unfortunately it doesn t. russia was involved you? unfortunately it doesn t. russia was involved in - you? unfortunately it doesn t. russia was involved in using i russia was involved in using chemical weapons against his own people in syria stop biden administration has been warning that putin may use chemical weapons and ukraine for several weeks now and while chemical weapons are not very effective on the battlefield against other armies, they have proven to be
pentagon john kirby not confirming those reports either but added the statement saying. these reports are true or deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about russia s potential to use a variety of riot control agents including teargas mix of chemical agents in ukraine. this is the mayor tells the ap that corpses were carpeted through the streets and that more than 10,000 civilians have been killed with the death toll potentially rising to 20,000, recently excite caped residents at descriptive quarters. we thought the worst thing was an air bomb, but affect the most terrifying thing is a tank. there s nothing worse than a tank. in moods where you re lying on the ground you can hear the sounds of the gun and movement, that is very scary. you can really hear it, you don t know where it will shoot. we got lucky. we were at the second entrance.
rape as a weapon of subjugation. they re all kinds of chemical agents, not all clusters chemical weapons, clearly we want to establish the facts, as will nato, before going forward. as you asked me to speculate a little on the reasons, in the last few days we had seen a new commander in chief of the russian forces, general alexander dvornikov, being appointed. he was in syria and notoriously he was working with the assad regime who it has been proven used chemical weapons in syria, it could be peter s desperation to break the resistance in mariupol before the may the 9th military parade in moscow. if he can seize mariupol he can claim the success of his linking the donbas region to the crimea. so
chemical agents along with riot control agents. i assume that that s like tear gas or something. if it turns out that russia has launched a chemical attack or using chemical weapons, what s the response going to be? first of all, we have not confirmed they used chemical weapons. we did have information even before yesterday, before this week, that the russians might use riot control measures, specifically tear gas mixed with other chemical agents tory to break the ukrainian defense of the city. we made that information available to the ukrainians so they could prepare and defend themselves. we warned for some time the russians might resort to these tactics. have been concerned about it. the president made clear if russia does use chemical or biological weapons there will be consequences. those consequences will be