According to a report by the organization Human Rights Watch, the Russian armed forces have used internationally banned cluster munitions in Ukraine. As a result, hundreds of civilians died and schools, residential buildings and hospitals were damaged, the human rights organization reported on Thursday in Geneva.
The Ukrainian army also used such ammunition at least once. There is an international convention that has banned the use, stockpiling, trade and production of cluster munitions since 2010. Strictly speaking, however, only the 110 contracting states are bound by it. Russia and Ukraine are not among them. Nonetheless, the widespread condemnation of so many countries has made the use of these weapons internationally outlawed.
Cluster munitions can be dropped by ground missiles or from aircraft. These are bombs, some of which contain hundreds of smaller bombs, and explode in mid-air. The ammunition spreads indiscriminately over a large area. Ammunition that fails to detonate initially can lie on the ground for years and is as dangerous as unexploded landmines.
Human Rights Watch has documented Russian use of such munitions in several cities, including Kharkiv and Mykolayiv, the organization said. According to local media reports, nine people who were queuing in front of an ATM were killed on March 13 by cluster munitions in Mykolaiv.
How many missions there were in total is difficult to say, but the organization assumes hundreds. Ukraine reportedly used such munitions in a village near Kharkiv that was under Russian control. According to Ukrainian information, by May 9 almost 100,000 landmines and pieces of cluster munitions had been recovered and rendered harmless.
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