The use of cluster munitions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been recorded by a number of eyewitnesses and journalists, as well as representatives of the UN, humanitarian and public organizations. In particular, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet, reported on March 30 at least 24 cases since the beginning of the invasion. As of July 1, hundreds of attacks by Russian forces with cluster munitions have already been recorded in the settlements of the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions. 215 civilians are known to have been killed in these shellings and 474 injured, many of which may go unreported. Both Russia as well as Ukraine have used cluster munitions during the conflict, however, Russian use has been extensive while Ukrainian use has been more limited.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories of the 2008 convention limiting the use of cluster munitions. The use of such weapons against civilians violates the principles of humanitarian law and therefore constitutes a war crime. Reports of Russian attacks have prompted the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into the commission of war crimes in Ukrainian territory.
Background Cluster munitions are explosive devices filled with smaller projectiles or submunitions. Such rockets or artillery shells usually explode while still in the air or on impact with a target, scattering submunitions in a radius of up to 400 meters. Shrapnel hits nearby buildings and people in range. The use of cluster munitions in civilian areas makes the attack indiscriminate, which violates the foundations of international humanitarian law. The use of such munitions has been criticized by human rights groups and a number of governments.
Cluster munitions dropped too low can become lodged in trees or on soft ground. Of the 7 thousand charges fired by one rocket launcher, about 2% do not detonate. Such unexploded ordnance in the future pose a threat to civilians in the conflict zone, their detection and detonation are costly. A significant part of the submunitions also does not detonate on impact: according to various estimates, 20-40%. Therefore, the use of cluster munitions, even outside of populated areas, is of serious concern to the international community, as it is associated with a long-term indiscriminate danger. Projectiles can explode if picked up or moved by children, farmers, or other civilians. These risks sometimes persist for years until specialists find and properly dispose of such explosives.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force in 2010, bans their use due to the potential danger to civilians. More than 120 countries have signed the pact, and, according to the Cluster Monitor Coalition, in more than twelve years of its existence, 36 states have destroyed almost 1.5 million cluster munitions containing about 178 million submunitions. However, 110 countries, including Russia and Ukraine, have not ratified the UN-backed treaty. Russia continues to produce cluster munitions and used at least two new types of them during the invasion (along with old stocks). As of August 2022, cluster munitions are not used anywhere except on the territory of Ukraine.
Regardless of the participation of governments in the initiative to limit cluster weapons, their use violates the principles of humanitarian law. Such attacks are indiscriminate and usually involve disproportionate civilian casualties relative to the military advantage gained. Both the Russian authorities and the Ukrainian authorities are subject to international legal norms that limit the methods of warfare, in particular the ban on indiscriminate attacks. If the army commander does not distinguish between civilians and soldiers, as well as between civilian and military objects, it's considered a war crime.
Nevertheless, both sides of the conflict continue to use cluster munitions. For 2022, both Russia and Ukraine had stockpiles of Smerch and Uragan artillery rockets equipped with cluster warheads. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, most cluster munitions in stock are over 20 years old, making them more unreliable and increasing the risk of civilian casualties.
In 2014 and 2015, Russian-backed militias used cluster munitions during battles in eastern Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch investigations. As weapons, surface 300-mm Smerch rockets and 220-mm Uragan cluster munitions were used, which deliver 9N210 and 9N235 anti-personnel fragmentation submunitions. As a result of attacks in seven villages controlled by the Ukrainian side, at least 13 civilians were killed, including two children. Attacks have also been recorded in territory held by the LPR and DPR, although both Ukrainian and Russian authorities condemned and denied the use of cluster munitions in populated areas. Ukrainian authorities later investigated the use of cluster weapons by their own troops, but international activists called it insufficient and inadequate.
Use by Russia
Although the Russian side denies accusations of using cluster munitions in residential areas, international and non-governmental organizations have reported such attacks. By the beginning of April, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies were reporting cluster munition shelling in Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Donetsk, Odesa, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. By July 1, Cluster Munition Coalition reports shelling in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions. Testimony from independent weapons experts confirmed that a number of cluster rounds were dropped on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. This is proved by photos and videos of eyewitnesses of the events, as well as journalists on the ground. Much of this data was collected by Ukrainian prosecutors and passed on to the International Criminal Court. In early March, an investigation began into the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. An August 2022 Cluster Munition Coalition report noted that Russia has used cluster munitions extensively during conflict, inflicting hundreds of civilian casualties and damaging civilian infrastructure.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission confirmed that during the first month of the war in 2022, the Russian military used cluster weapons in Ukrainian settlements at least 16 times. At the end of March, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet, reported at least 24 cases since the invasion began. The agency indicated that the attacks damaged medical facilities, including 50 hospitals. As of August 2022, there have already been hundreds of cases of Russian use of cluster munitions in at least 10 out of 24 regions of Ukraine. It is known that 215 civilians were killed and 474 wounded during these attacks, and many cases may remain unknown. At least 7 people were killed and 3 were injured by submunitions that did not explode immediately. The shelling of cluster munitions mainly affected civilian infrastructure: residential buildings, hospitals, schools, playgrounds, in one case a cemetery.
During the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army used at least 6 types of cluster munitions: missiles for multiple rocket launchers "Hurricane", "Smerch", "Tornado-S", missile systems "Tochka" and "Iskander-M", as well as RBC bombs -500 with PTAB-1M submunitions. Smerch missiles were used for 72 submunitions, as well as other charges for 50 submunitions. According to the Russian manufacturer, missiles used in residential areas can contain up to 1.45 kg of explosive and scatter into about 316 fragments. The most large-scale Russian attacks with weapons include:
Shelling of the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar on February 24, 2022 (Donetsk region). According to the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the Russian attack killed at least 4 civilians and injured 10, damaged ambulances and destroyed a hospital building. A Human Rights Watch investigation documented the use of cluster munitions as Iskander short-range ballistic missiles, as well as a ballistic missile of the Tochka system with a 9N123 cluster warhead for 50 submunitions. Human rights activists called the use of shells with a wide radius of destruction in densely populated areas "blatant disregard for the lives of civilians". The shelling of the preschool "Sonechko" in the city of Okhtyrka on February 25, 2022 (Sumy region). According to the UN Monitoring Mission and Amnesty International, a public human rights organization, an attack by six 220-mm Uragan rockets with cluster warheads on a building where civilians were hiding killed at least 2 adults and 1 child, 1 other child was injured. Shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv on February 25 and 28, 2022. The UN monitoring mission reported that at least 9 civilians were killed and 37 were injured during the first cluster munition rocket attack. Four days after the start of the Russian invasion, Amnesty International documented three more attacks with cluster munitions in the northern part of Kharkiv. At the same time, UN officials reported 9 dead and 37 injured civilians as a result of the attacks. In just 11 days of artillery shelling of Kharkiv by Russian troops, 450 civilians were killed or wounded, apartment buildings, schools and shops were destroyed. A later investigation by Human Rights Watch confirmed that the Russian side fired 9M55K Smerch cluster munitions into three districts of Kharkiv. The direction of some of the unguided rocket elements stuck into the ground indicated that they were launched from the Russian border. At least 11 missiles were tracked by CNN to the 79th Russian rocket artillery brigade based in the Belgorod region of Russia. She reported directly to the head of the Western Military District of the Russian armed forces, Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlev. Previously, he led the battles for Aleppo in Syria, where there were also reports of massive use of cluster munitions, although the Russian Ministry of Defense denied this. In April 17, in Kharkiv, at least 3 sappers were killed and 4 sappers were seriously injured from explosions of cluster munitions, who were decontaminating ammunition found in the city. On May 8, south of the city, in the Sinelnikovsky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, a 12-year-old boy who stumbled upon it died from the explosion of a cluster submunition. In total, at least 9 people suffered from such ammunition in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Shelling of Mykolaiv on March 7, 11 and 13, 2022. Specialists from the Médecins Sans Frontières association found numerous small holes typical of cluster munition attacks on the territory of the oncological hospital of the city. A later Human Rights Watch investigation confirmed the use of cluster weapons in the shelling of residential buildings. Only during the attack on March 13, 9 civilians were killed in line at an ATM, numerous injuries were recorded among local residents, houses and civilian cars were destroyed. Remnants of Uragan and Smerch cluster munitions, unexploded 9N210 fragmentation submunitions were identified on the photo and video from the scene. May 7, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, told reporters that during the shelling of the city, the Russian army fired at least 40 cluster munitions, mainly at residential buildings. As the authorities prepared for such an attack, most of the population was evacuated, but at least 60 were reported to have been seriously injured.