According to Amnesty, the cluster bombings have been approximate, as they cannot be targeted. The human rights organization demands that those responsible for the attacks be brought to justice.
– The continuing bombing of residential areas in Kharkov are indiscriminate attacks that have killed and wounded hundreds of civilians. These attacks are thus war crimes, says Amnesty in his report on Kharkov.
According to Amnesty, it has found evidence of repeated use of banned cluster munitions and sirotines.
Cluster bombs release dozens of daughter bombs into the air, which randomly spread over a wide area. Daughter bombs can often also go unleashed, making the terrain dangerous for years to come.
Aggregate attacks that result in the death, injury, or destruction of civilian targets are war crimes.
Amnesty investigated 41 different attacks in Kharkov, killing at least 62 civilians and injuring 169. The attacks were haphazard and killed people who were shopping, queuing or just walking down the street.
– Such weapons should never be used. They cannot be targeted, they have a devastating effect and cause many deaths and injuries to civilians, Amnesty Crisis Expert Donatella Rovera said BBC interview (moving to another service).
According to Rovera, the use of weapons indicates the deliberate targeting of war on civilians.
– Russia cannot claim that it does not know the destructive power of these weapons. And the decision to use them shows disregard for the lives of civilians.
Amnesty interviewed 160 witnesses in his report on the spot: victims, relatives and doctors, among others.
For example, doctors at a local hospital showed Amnesty researchers shreds of metal removed from victims ’bodies, which I identified as part of cluster bombs.
Russia has previously denied using cluster munitions and said its troops had only hit military targets.
According to an Amnesty report, Russian forces launched attacks on civilian targets in Kharkov from day one of the war.
More than 120 states have signed an international treaty banning cluster munitions or anti-personnel mines. Russia and Ukraine are not among the signatories. However, international humanitarian law prohibits the use of such approximate weapons.