Russia’s war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble World War I trench warfare—both in scale and in tactics—according to Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commander of the UK’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) defence forces.

In an opinion piece for The Telegraph, de Bretton-Gordon highlights claims by the Dutch government that Russia has carried out thousands of chemical weapon attacks in Ukraine, using agents like chlorine and CS gas to try to break the battlefield deadlock.

“The war in Ukraine is now heartbreakingly similar to the trench warfare of WW1,” he writes. “The casualty rate is similar, and now the Russians are trying to break the stalemate with gas as the Germans did at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.”

Chemical weapons on the frontline

The Russian military’s use of toxic industrial chemicals, while not as deadly as nerve agents, is nonetheless part of a strategy to force Ukrainian troops out of defensive positions. As in WWI, the initial lack of protective gear gave attackers the advantage—but UK-supplied masks are expected to arrive soon.

“The delivery of protective equipment to the frontline in WW1 nullified this dreadful weapon, as it should in Ukraine once British masks arrive in the coming weeks.”

7/7 and the threat of CBRN terror

De Bretton-Gordon reflects on these developments as the UK marks 20 years since the 7/7 bombings—coordinated suicide attacks on London’s public transport system that killed 52 people and injured hundreds on July 7, 2005. At the time, he was deployed in Iraq with British forces investigating a possible Al Qaeda biological weapons plot, which turned out to be a false alarm.

He warns that while the 7/7 attackers used conventional explosives, a chemical, biological, or radiological attack could have caused devastation on an entirely different scale.

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A global pattern—and a warning

Drawing on his experience in Iraq, Syria, and the Novichok attack in Salisbury, de Bretton-Gordon argues that both terror groups and rogue states continue to see chemical weapons as a powerful tool. Russia’s use of such weapons in Ukraine, he warns, has gone largely unchallenged.

“Tyrants like Putin may become emboldened to use more toxic and lethal substances or pathogens against us.”

He concludes with a call for greater investment in defence and intelligence:

“It won’t matter how good (or not) our other public services or our welfare system may be if our defences are inadequate.”