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(Kiev, May 29, 2024) – recent Russian Odessa was hit by cluster bombs. UkraineHuman Rights Watch said today that the attack, which killed seven civilians and injured dozens, highlights the urgent need for all countries to join an international treaty banning such weapons.
“Russia’s cluster munitions attack in Ukraine is an example of how it is causing serious harm to civilians,” Belki’s WillDeputy Director for Crisis, Conflict, and Arms at Human Rights Watch. “Many countries that banned cluster munitions under the treaty have made great progress in destroying their stockpiles and removing explosive remnants, but the continued use of these weapons increases the risks to civilians around the world.”
Sixteen years later, 124 countries have ratified the May 30, 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions But it does not include Russia and Ukraine.
On April 29, 2024, a ballistic missile equipped with a cluster munition warhead dispersed submunitions in and around one of the locations. Odessa Law School A compound on the Odessa waterfront. Ukrainian authorities reported that among the civilian population Killed Once was a 4-year-old girlShe died of her injuries three weeks after the attack, which started a fire that destroyed the roof of the law school’s dean’s residence, where he was injured.
Another 28 civilians InjuriedMost of the victims were located outside a building at the college in a popular park with a promenade used by joggers, dog walkers and other civilians.
Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that pose a foreseeable, long-term danger to civilians. Fired from artillery, rockets, missiles and aircraft, cluster munitions explode in mid-air, scattering multiple submunitions over an area the size of several city blocks. Many submunitions fail to explode on impact, leaving behind duds that injure and kill like mines until they are discovered and destroyed, where they can cause harm and death for years.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin said Russian troops carried out attack The Iskander ballistic missiles were equipped with cluster munition warheads. Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Pletenchik said he immediately went to the attack site and observed the missile wreckage and the explosive submunitions it carried. Each Iskander-M 9M723 series ballistic missile is equipped with 54 9N730 dual-purpose submunitions.
Video of the attack captured by security cameras release Photos posted by Kostin on Facebook on April 30 and verified by Human Rights Watch showed at least 25 small explosions in six seconds on the waterfront near the Odessa Academy, suggesting multiple submunitions detonated in a cluster munition attack.
Human Rights Watch verified six videos and photos posted on social media of the attack and its aftermath, including blood spatter and debris damage from explosions on the sidewalk, fires at the law school, and remnants of munitions from the attack. One photo showed production markings on the remains of a missile engine, indicating that the weapon used was a 9M723 ballistic missile. Only Russia produces and stocks Iskander ballistic missiles equipped with cluster munition warheads.
Denis Sebov, director of the 10th Odessa Clinical Hospital, told Human Rights Watch that 15 people were taken to the hospital after the attack, all of whom were injured by metal fragments. He said that among those taken to the hospital, a 40-year-old woman died on arrival due to metal fragments in her neck, lungs, and heart; a 30-year-old man died from head injuries; and another man died after surgeons removed two metal fragments from his head. Some of the survivors were transferred to other medical facilities for further surgery.
Russian missiles and drones frequently attack Odessa’s port infrastructure. However, the April 29 attack took place 8 kilometers from the port. unknown Get close to any military objectives, such as military buildings or supply depots.
Human Rights Watch Record Since the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, many Russian cluster munition attacks have caused civilian casualties. Vuledalthen attack exist Kharkov, Nikolayev, Chernihiv, Khersonand other cities. Russian cluster bombs hit crowded Kramatorsk Railway Station The attack on April 8, 2022, remains one of the deadliest incidents in terms of civilian casualties during the war.
The Ukrainian military also used cluster munitions, including Izium The 2022 unrest in the region resulted in numerous civilian deaths and serious injuries, Human Rights Watch explain.
Four wheels us The transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine since 2023 has prompted the Convention’s member states, U.S. lawmakers and Civilized Society Groups criticized the U.S. action. Announce The fourth round of negotiations is scheduled for April 24. The United States is also not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In September 2023, the Convention member states condemn “The use of cluster munitions by any actor” and expressed “deep concern about the significant increase in civilian casualties and humanitarian impact caused by the repeated use of cluster munitions since 2021,” especially in Ukraine.
Russia, Ukraine, and the United States should each commit to not further endanger civilian lives through indiscriminate attacks, accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, destroy their stockpiles, clear areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants, and assist victims of such weapons. No country should transfer cluster munitions, given that international norms prohibit the transfer of such weapons.
Russia and Ukraine should promptly compensate victims and their families for loss of life, limbs, or land use rights.
“Sadly, the deaths and injuries of civilians in Odessa from cluster munitions will not be the last time civilians are harmed by these weapons,” Weir said. “Concerted international pressure is needed to end the use of cluster munitions not only in Ukraine, but around the world.”
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