In reality, an article in an Italian pro-Kremlin media outlet simply repeats the words of Russian propagandists – without any factual basis.
Pro-Russian publications are discussing an article published in the Italian media L’Antidiplomatico. The article allegedly provides «convincing evidence» of Ukraine’s use of chemical weapons, and accuses Ukraine of conspiring with NATO and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: «These events confirm the complete disregard of the Kyiv regime and its allies for international law, while Russia, based on facts and documents, continues to expose crimes committed against its people and armed forces», the article says.
But in reality, the story in L’Antidiplomatico is very short and based entirely on a report by Russian General Alexei Rtishchev about the so-called use of chemical weapons by Ukraine on the battlefield. Without any evidence, he stated that Ukraine had violated the Chemical Weapons Convention more than five hundred times. At the same time, the article does not contain any references to credible international sources that would confirm this information. By citing «European sources», Russian propaganda is trying to legitimize its own false narratives.
However, the credibility of the L’Antidiplomatico publication raises doubts. The media outlet has repeatedly been exposed by Italian fact-checkers, and DisinfoLab in a 2018 study even called the source one of the most active distributors of pro-Russian content in Italy. And in 2022, it took fourth place in the ranking of the least reliable Italian resources according to Newsguard Technologies: the project team called the publication «a far-left international news site that often publishes false content and gives space to Russian disinformation». Previously, the site has repeatedly spread fakes about the Russian-Ukrainian war: for example, in October 2022, the publication wrote that the graves found in Izyum in the Kharkiv region after the de-occupation were a «Bucha-style staging». This false narrative was refuted both by StopFake and the Italian fact-checkers Butac, who wrote that «the accusations are vague, unfounded, false and unconfirmed, but serve… to comply with the Kremlin narrative». And before that, L’Antidiplomatico spread disinformation narratives and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccination and the BlackRock corporation – topics that very often appear in the Russian infofield. Therefore, this source cannot be called a «credible European resource», rather the opposite.
The propagandists also write that the Russian side has provided the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) with «irrefutable evidence» of Ukraine’s use of banned chemical weapons. However, the organization itself only writes about evidence of Russia using chemical weapons against Ukraine. Thus, in its report dated June 26, 2025, the OPCW analyzed documentation, digital files, eyewitness accounts, and seven environmental samples collected by Ukraine on the frontline in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Several independent and unrelated laboratories have confirmed Russia’s use of CS (2-Chlorobenzalmalononitrile), a poisonous, irritating combat gas. This information was also confirmed by German and Dutch intelligence, which reported that Russian troops are using the substance against Ukrainian fighters in cover, forcing them to come out and then shooting them.
We have already debunked the fake narrative about Ukraine’s use of chemical weapons in the materials Fake: Ukraine Is Creating an Experimental Testing Ground and Death Lab, Fake: Ukraine is Preparing to Use Chemical and Bacteriological Weapons to Contaminate Water Bodies in the Kherson Region, and Fake: Ukraine Supplied Phosphorus Munitions to Azerbaijan.
