Suspicions Raised of Russian Use of White Phosphorus in Eastern Ukraine

delivery time2023-05-07 08:04

BBC “estimated incendiary attack in the western part of the city”… “Ukraine seems to be launching a counterattack in Zaporizhia”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong Seong-jo = Suspicions have been raised that Russian forces used white phosphorus ammunition at Bahmut, a fierce battleground in eastern Ukraine.

On the 6th (local time), Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense posted a video on Twitter of the city engulfed in flames, claiming that Russia had used white phosphorus in the unoccupied area of ​​Bakhmut.

The British BBC, which analyzed the video, explained that the time of filming is unclear, but the location appears to be near a children’s hospital in the west of downtown Bahmut. It is believed to have been taken with a drone, and a high-rise building is also captured on video as it is set on fire.

The BBC also analyzed that a type of incendiary bomb was used in the attack, but added that it could not be specified whether or not white phosphorus was used.

White phosphorus is a bomb that uses white phosphorus, an allotrope of phosphorus (P), as a raw material. White phosphorus is also often used in flares and smoke bombs, but white phosphorus for killing people is a type of incendiary bomb that uses fire or flame to destroy targets. Simply put, it is a weapon that burns the surroundings.

The raw material itself is highly toxic, and when it comes into contact with oxygen and catches fire, it generates tremendous heat, flashes, and smoke, which have a fatal effect on the human body. Once burning begins, it sticks to the human body and is not easily extinguished. Water is useless, and if you wrap and remove a bandage, it may catch fire again.

The use of incendiary bombs against civilian residential areas or facilities where civilians are concentrated is prohibited under international law. Such prohibitions are included in the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) ratified by almost all major countries, including Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and China.

But white phosphorus is different. In any case, since its main purpose is to ‘form smoke’, unlike incendiary bombs, it is outside the control of international norms.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights organization, points out that white phosphorus, which has been used since the early and mid-20th century, has been repeatedly used in the past 15 years. The same was true when US forces fought the extremist militant group Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, HRW explained.

Ukraine has been accusing Russia of using white phosphorus on civilian facilities during the siege of Mariupol since the beginning of the war last year, but Russia has always denied it, saying, “It has never violated international agreements.”

The BBC explained that although it is doubtful whether Bahmut, which was hit by an incendiary bomb, has strategic value, it is a fierce battleground that Russia has been trying to seize for months, and only Russian deaths are estimated at thousands.

News of the attack came the day after Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, a private Russian mercenary company, announced that it would withdraw from Bahmut on the 10th, citing a lack of support from the Russian Ministry of Defense, including a lack of ammunition.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian army believes that the Russian army is adding Wagner mercenaries, who were deployed on other fronts, to the Bahmut front to occupy Bahmut by the 9th, the ‘Victory Day’. It is suspected that it may be fake information to confuse the Ukrainian military.

As Ukraine announces a ‘great counterattack’, clouds of war hang over the eastern front.

The BBC cited Zaporizhia, which is 80% occupied by Russia, as a possible area for Ukraine’s attack. On the 5th, the Russian governor of Zaporizhzhya issued an evacuation order to villages near the frontline.

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2023/05/07 08:04 Sent