Russia's last supplies of the deadly chemical weapon soman have been destroyed, Russia's Federal Administration for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons announced on Saturday.
Russia has destroyed the last of its supplies of the deadly chemical weapon soman, the Federal Administration for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons announced on Saturday.
"On March 25 2017 at the Kizner facility for the storage and destruction of chemical weapons in the Udmurt Republic, in accordance with the schedule for the destruction of chemical weapons in the Russian Federation, the last drop of the poisonous substance soman was destroyed," the administration's head Colonel-General Valery Kapashin stated.
"As of today, Russia's supplies of the poisonous skin irritant mustard gas and the organophosphate soman have been completely destroyed."
Russia is one of 192 members of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, which classifies hazardous chemicals and regulates their production and sale.
Along with mustard gas, sarin, lewisite and other chemical warfare agents, the Convention placed soman in the most dangerous Schedule 1 category of chemicals.
Soman is a nerve agent that can cause convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and respiratory failure in large doses.
It is a clear, colorless liquid that mixes easily with water. If heated, the chemical forms a vapor that may be inhaled or come into contact with the eyes or skin of the victim.
Parties to the convention declared world-wide stockpiles of 9,057 tons of soman and pledged to destroy them.
With the destruction of over half a million munitions containing 1,395 tons of soman, Russia has destroyed 97 percent of its chemical weapons supplies.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Kapashin said that Russia is on course to completely destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles and fulfil all its obligations under the Convention ahead of schedule, on October 24.
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