A “nitric acid tank” at a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine, was “hit” by a Russian strike on Tuesday, regional governor Sergei Gaïdaï announced, calling on residents to do not come out of air-raid shelters. “Do not leave the shelters” and “prepare face masks soaked in a soda solution”, wrote the governor on Telegram, recalling that nitric acid could in particular cause lung damage or loss of vision.

Nitric acid is “dangerous to health (generally reversible lesions)”, but can cause death, writes the French society of emergency medicine. In gas form, it is “suffocating, irritating and even corrosive” when inhaled, and can also affect the skin or eyes. In early April, Serguiï Gaïdaï had already reported a strike that hit a nitric acid tank in Roubizhné, a few kilometers further north of Severodonetsk.

The pro-Russian separatists for their part indicated that a container with nitric acid had “exploded” in the Azot factory in Severodonetsk. “At the Azot chemical plant, a container with chemicals exploded. According to preliminary information, it is nitric acid. The territory of the factory is still controlled by formations of the Ukrainian regime”, wrote Telegram Rodion Miroshnik, representative of the separatist republic Lugansk in Russia.

Absolute madness, for Zelenskyy

His message was accompanied by a photo showing a thick reddish cloud rising in the sky. “The strikes by the Russian army, including the indiscriminate aerial bombardments, are simply absolute madness,” denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video broadcast in the evening on Telegram.

The city of Severodonetsk, the administrative center of the Lugansk region for the Ukrainian authorities has been the epicenter of several days of fierce fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian armies. “Unfortunately, today, Russian soldiers control most of the city,” said Serguiï Gaïdaï, Tuesday evening.