This was reported in an interview with Suspilne by Viktor Bachynskyi, head of the Chernivtsi Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination.
According to him, since the beginning of 2025, around 500 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers have been delivered to the bureau. In most cases, death was caused by explosive injuries, but some bodies had no visible injuries, which may indicate poisoning by toxic substances.
Bachynskyi noted that during autopsies of some bodies, medical staff lost consciousness, forcing the bureau to purchase special gas masks. The use of protective equipment stopped the cases of fainting, which, according to experts, is an additional confirmation of the presence of harmful substances in the tissues of the deceased.
Laboratory studies of biological materials are currently ongoing, but the process is complicated by a lack of modern equipment. A mass spectrometer would allow identification of substances in less than an hour, but its cost is about 8 million UAH, and the bureau does not have this device.