UK Delivers Thousands of Gas Masks to Ukraine
More than 65,000 gas masks manufactured in Wiltshire, UK, are set to be sent to Ukrainian troops. The Gaze reports, citing BBC sources.
Avon Protection, based in Melksham, has received two NATO orders to supply personal respirators as part of a multimillion-pound contract.
Justin Hine, Director of Strategy and Product Management at Avon Protection, stated: "Because of the urgency we've immediately jumped on this requirement, the respirators are in production now and we will be supplying them imminently."
"These are desperately needed and they [Ukraine] need the most widely proven and easy-to-use product," he added.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former army chemical weapons commander, emphasized that Russia has been using chemical weapons "almost continuously" over the past 18 months.
"It's a riot control agent but it's illegal under the Chemical Weapons Convention," he said. "So, the need for proper protection - good high-quality gas masks - is absolutely essential."
Russia has been deploying chemical weapons on the battlefield, in violation of international laws. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, Russian forces have used chemical munitions in over 6,900 recorded incidents between February 2023 and February 2025.
From 24 December 2024 to 24 January 2025 alone, 844 cases were documented. More than 2,100 Ukrainian servicemen have sought medical treatment for symptoms of chemical exposure, and three have died.
As The Gaze reported, the Chiefs of Staff of the French and British Armed Forces, General Thierry Burkhard and Admiral Anthony Radakin, recently met in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's military leadership.
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