Kyiv's mayor on potential for chemical weapon attack: "Russia doesn't have rules"

Russia will go to any length to win the war in Ukraine, including the potential use of chemical weapons, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday. 

"Everything is possible," Klitschko told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell when asked if he's seen evidence that Russia could carry out a chemical weapon attack in the near future. "We see in this war Russia doesn't have rules, doesn't have morals." 

Klitschko noted that "thousands" of Ukrainian civilians have already died in the nearly three-week-old war, despite Russia claiming that it doesn't target civilians. 

"They have a target, they have a goal, with any price to be in Kyiv. I hope it's not they use chemical weapons against civilian population," he said. "With any price, they want to win." 

Klitschko's comments come amid growing concerns that Russia could use chemical weapons in the ongoing conflict. 

The White House warned last week that Russia could escalate its attack against Ukraine by using biological or chemical weapons. Russia could also claim that Ukraine used such weapons in a "false flag" attack as a pretext for more violence, the White House said. 

Russian officials have accused the U.S. of working on covert biological and chemical weapons programs inside Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed documents provided by Ukrainian lab workers showed Washington "planned to organize work on pathogens of birds, bats and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022."

U.S. officials denied the claims, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki calling the idea "preposterous." 

"This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine," Psaki said.

President Biden has threatened that Russia would pay a "severe price" if it uses chemical weapons, though his administration has not given specifics.