According to the commander in the Ukrainian army, there have already been several casualties. “The symptoms are nausea, vomiting and loss of consciousness,” he says in the clip.
For now, Dmytrashkivsky is the only one to report this.
Lewisite was developed in 1920 by the American Winford Lee Lewis. Until the 1950s, about 20,000 tons of it were produced by the US. It has the special property that it can penetrate rubber and that gas masks offer no protection.
The Americans ultimately decided not to use the substance as a weapon, as it was too unstable to use in combat. Japan and Iraq did. The former Soviet Union was also once a major producer.
Symptoms of Lewisite poisoning include blisters on the skin, burning and watery swollen eyes, respiratory tract irritation, vomiting, diarrhea and blood poisoning. The nickname ‘Dew of Death’ – Lewisite is due to the fact that it dissolves in the water vapor in the air. Lewisite is therefore not immediately fatal. In the longer term, it can cause organ damage and death.