A Ukrainian soldier holds a defused cluster munition in Kharkiv Oblast/Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters, Oct. 21, 2022
2023.07.20 Thu posted at 20:59 JST
(CNN) Russia this week declared that it would be a “crime” for Ukraine to use US-supplied cluster munitions and would retaliate. But according to Ukraine and the United Nations, it is Russian forces that have repeatedly used cluster munitions in all-out invasions of Ukraine. Summarize what you know so far.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has launched multiple investigations into Russia’s use of cluster munitions since the invasion began. A statement dated March 27, 2019 pointed out that cluster munitions were used to target civilians in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. Authorities and experts say they have recovered cluster munition missile fragments.
On May 11, the military administration of the south-central Zaporizhia oblast reported on social media Telegram that eight people were injured in a cluster munition attack in a town in the province.
CNN has not been able to independently verify these Ukrainian claims.
A CNN review last year found the use of cluster munitions against civilian targets in the northeastern province of Kharkiv. The Russian military officer who orchestrated the atrocities in Syria led the cluster munitions attack on the provincial capital Kharkiv.
The United Nations has also released a report on Russia’s use of cluster munitions. On March 30, 2018, then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet reported credibly that Russia had used cluster munitions in populated areas “at least 24 times” just one month after the invasion. revealed that there is
Civil society organizations that continue monitoring activities such as prohibiting the use of cluster munitions in cooperation with the United Nations said that at least 215 civilians have been killed by cluster munitions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on August 25 last year. 474 people were reported injured.
The group Cluster Munitions Monitor said the Russian military had used cluster munitions “repeatedly” since the start of the invasion. Ukrainian forces were also deployed “multiple times” and “mostly” in populated areas, he said.
Ukraine has previously admitted to using cluster munitions, claiming they were intended to defend its territory against Russian aggression.
#Russias #Cluster #Munitions
2023-07-20 11:59:00
