The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation accused Ukraine of using chemical agents against the Russian military in the Zaporozhye region. This isreported by Russian state media. According to the agency, botulinum toxin type "B" was found in the body of the Russian military.

“Against the backdrop of military defeats in the Donbass and other regions, the Zelensky regime authorized terrorist acts using chemical poisons against Russian military personnel and civilians. On July 31, Russian servicemen performing tasks in the area of ​​​​the village of Vasilyevka, Zaporozhye region, were taken to a military hospital with signs of severe poisoning, ”the Ministry of Defense said. They also reported that Russia would declare an act of chemical terrorism by Ukraine in the OPCW.

It is also reported that "analyzes that confirmed the diagnosis" were carried out by specialists from the Main Research and Testing Institute of Military Medicine of the Ministry of Defense in St. Petersburg. The director of this research institute, Sergei Chepur, is linked to the poisoning of the Skripals in 2005. Chepur's connection to the GRU and his involvement in plotting the assassination was reported in a joint investigation by The Insider and Bellingcat. Chepur's main specialization is toxicology, and one of his specialized topics is poisoning with anticholisterase poisons (Novichok belongs to the class of which). Courts on the billing of Chepur's calls, it was at the St. Petersburg Research Institute that Novichok was tested.

Sergei Chepur often called up scientists who specialized in Novichok, in particular, with the director of the Signal scientific center Artur Zhirov, who specialized in nanoencapsulation research. This is a technology that allows you to cover small particles of the active substance with a shell. With its help, scientists managed to develop a system for delivering poisons from the Novichok group into the body using nanocapsules. This allows you to delay and mask the action of the poison.

A few days before the assassination attempt on the Skripals, Chepur arrived at the headquarters of the GRU, where he met with employees of military unit 29155. At the same meeting were Mishkin, Chepiga and Sergeyev, who three days later went to the UK to “look at the spiers” of Salisbury Cathedral.