The Ukrainian military has used cluster munitions numerous times in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists, likely scattering deadly bombs that did not immediately explode and putting civilians at risk, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.
An investigation earlier this month found that the weapons were used more than a dozen times in fighting in eastern Ukraine, Human Rights Watch reported. Dozens of countries, including the United States, agreed not to use cluster munitions in a treaty signed in 2008, citing the indiscriminate nature of the weapon. Ukraine has not signed the treaty.
'While it was not possible to conclusively determine responsibility for many of the attacks, the evidence points to Ukrainian government forces' responsibility for several cluster munition attacks on Donetsk,' Human Rights Watch said, naming the city in eastern Ukraine that has been the site of heavy fighting. 'An employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was killed on October 2 in an attack on Donetsk that included use of cluster munition rockets.'
The weapons in question are surface-fired 220mm Uragan and 300mm Smerch cluster munition rockets. Each rocket contains smaller munitions, known as submunitions, that are designed to split up and explode separately. They can hit a wide area over hundreds of feet, and unexploded ordinance leave what are essentially landmines on the battlefield.
Human Rights Watch released the following photos to back their case, along with the video above.
Human Rights Watch said that the Ukrainian military has not responded to its allegations. The rockets have killed at least six people and wounded dozens. In one case, numerous submunitions hit the roof of a supermarket in Donetsk, leaving 15 impact sites, the group said.
Entities 0 Name: Human Rights Watch Count: 5 1 Name: Ukraine Count: 3 2 Name: Donetsk Count: 3 3 Name: ICRC Count: 1 4 Name: United States Count: 1 5 Name: International Committee of the Red Cross Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1s0s28I Title: Ukraine Used Cluster Bombs, Report Charges Description: DONETSK, Ukraine - The Ukrainian Army appears to have fired cluster munitions on several occasions into the heart of Donetsk, unleashing a weapon banned in much of the world into a rebel-held city with a peacetime population of more than one million, according to physical evidence at the scene and interviews with witnesses and victims. Sites where rockets fell in the city on Oct.
