Russian forces have been accused of using a banned military tactic during the invasion of Ukraine.
White phosphorus munitions were deployed in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Monday, according to the deputy head of Kyiv’s police.
Video taken on phones and by an ITV film crew showed a glittering light substance falling down from the sky onto the city below.
Oleksiy Biloshytskiy shared a video of material burning fiercely on the ground as it was touched with a spade.
“Another use of phosphorus ammunitions in Kramatorsk,” he says in the video.
White phosphorous is used to cause rapid fires due to the aggressive way it combusts with oxygen.
The use of white phosphorus is not banned under international convention when it is used as a smoke screen, but as an incendiary weapons in civilian areas it is forbidden under the Geneva convention.
There are rising fears that Vladimir Putin is considering turning to more extreme forms of attack and even chemical warfare as the now month long invasion stalls.
At the weekend an alarming Russian propaganda video began circulating showing off terrifying thermobaric rockets which can melt human organs.
On Saturday Russian ships in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea launched cruise missile strikes on Ukraine and fired hypersonic missiles from Crimean airspace.
One of the strikes destroyed a large fuel storage facility in the Nikolaev region in southern Ukraine, while another damaged a workshop used to repair armoured vehicles.
US President Joe Biden said the use of chemical weapons was “a real threat” as he departed for Europe to attend a Nato summit on Wednesday.
The US has also reiterated its warning that Russia could be about to stage a ‘false flag’ attack to justify using chemical weapons.
Biden has previously said Russia’s claim that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons is a clear sign Mr Putin is considering using them.
Nato head Jens Stoltenberg also warned that any use of chemical weapons in Ukraine would have far-reaching consequences and “totally change the nature of the conflict”.
