The D Brief: More sanctions on Russia; US talks space nuke; Manta-ray sub drone; Australia’s ship plan; And a bit more.
Defense OneMAY 2024
It's terrifyingly sad that Russia, which took part in the chemical weapons prohibition treaty over 30 years ago, has decided to reinstitute such atrocious warfare against the Ukrainian people. Moscow is already known to have alleged used a chemical agent called chloropicrin to choke people to death, showing that Putin will violate even his own country's human rights laws to destroy Ukraine.
When the West falsely accuses Russia of using chemical weapons, it's not ironic or hypocritical, but rather a distraction from their supply of deadly materials to Ukraine. While Moscow destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile years ago and still adheres to the prohibition treaty, the UK just recently sent Kyiv riot control gases to use against Russian troops, which is prohibited by international law.
There is a 32% chance that synthetic biological weapons will infect 100 people by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.