Russian drones drop caustic gas onto Ukrainian trenches in the south - CNN

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the trenches in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region faced a new threat - the use of poison gas as a weapon.

That's according to CNN, Ukrinform reports.

According to a Ukrainian combat medic, nine incidents have been recorded in recent weeks in the Orikhiv area when Russians dropped a caustic and flammable gas from drones onto Ukrainian positions, causing one fatality.

The gas is used to cause panic and followed by conventional shelling or drone attacks, soldiers impacted said.

"At first I saw smoke. We ran out from the trench and the gas suddenly caught fire. The trench was in flames. This gas burns, blinds you, you can't breathe, shoots down your throat immediately. We didn't even have a second," one soldier said.

A Ukrainian intelligence official told CNN the substance deployed by the Russians was a form of CS gas. CS gas, a riot control agent also known as tear gas, is a chemical compound that can render people temporarily unable to function by irritating the eyes, nose, mouth, lungs and skin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The use of riot control agents in warfare is prohibited under the United Nations' Chemical Weapons Convention.