Syrian soldiers
© REUTERS / Ali Hashisho
Earlier, Russian military forces had unearthed a warehouse of substances essential for the manufacture of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta.

"The equipment found in the laboratory, including the chemical reactor, and shown in the video was made in the West, highly likely - in the UK or Germany," Igor Nikulin, a military expert and a former member of the UN's biological commission, told Sputnik.

On April 17, Russian troops uncovered a lab in Douma, which, according to chemical defense specialist Alexander Rodionov, could have been used by terrorist groups for the production of chemical weapons.


"The substances discovered, such as thiodiglycol and diethanolamine, are necessary for the production of sulfur and nitrogen mustard gas. In addition, a cylinder with chlorine, similar to that used by militants to set up the widely spread fake story, was found in the warehouse. It can be concluded that this laboratory was used by illegal armed groups for the production of poisonous substances," Rodionov said, as cited by the Zvezda TV channel.

Following the reports about the alleged chemical attack in Douma, the Russian Defense Ministry sent a chemical corps commission to the site for a probe into the suspected use of toxic agents; the expert group, however, found no traces of chemical poisoning with chlorine or sarin, having questioned witnesses and medical workers.

Meanwhile, an OPCW fact-finding mission has been launched in Syria to investigate the allegations of a chemical attack that purportedly occurred last week.

On April 14, the United States, the UK and France fired 103 missiles at Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by government forces in Douma; most of them were intercepted by the Syrian air defenses.

The joint attack was conducted amid reports, covered by several media outlets, citing militants, that the Syrian army had dropped a chlorine bomb on civilians in Douma; the West was quick to blame the chemical attack on Bashar Assad's forces, while the Syrian government strongly denied its involvement, denouncing the entire incident as a false flag.