A Ukrainian serviceman is seen in the window of a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit, on February 25, 2022
A Ukrainian serviceman is seen in the window of a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit, on February 25, 2022Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images
  • According to NATO, Russia is using cluster bombs to attack Ukraine.
  • Cluster bombs are weapons that disperse smaller bombs, or submunitions, over a large area in order to hit multiple targets at once.
  • They are extremely dangerous and widely condemned because of their potential to kill and maim civilians.

NATO accused Russia of using cluster bombs in Ukraine on Friday as evidence emerges that Russia has been using these highly dangerous weapons as part of its intensifying war.

"We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, according to CNN's Jim Sciutto. 

Cluster bombs are weapons that disperse smaller bombs, or submunitions, over a large area in order to hit multiple targets at once. They are extremely dangerous and widely condemned because of their potential to cause serious damage to civilians in populated areas. Cluster bombs also have the potential to cause future harm if they do not explode upon immediate impact. 

More than 100 countries have banned cluster bombing, not including Ukraine, Russia, or the United States. But while the use of cluster bombs themselves does not violate international law, using them against civilians can. 

The open source collective Bellingcat has used images and videos from social media to geolocate the impact sites of seveeral cluster bombings of civilians areas in Ukraine. The organization has also been able to establish from which direction the missiles came, providing clues as to who fired them. 

Kharkiv, a Ukrainian city just 25 kilometers from the country's border, has seen some of the war's most intense fighting over the past few days. It may also be the target of several cluster munition strikes, according to Bellingcat. In one example from February 25, cluster bombings appear to occur along a stretch of highway running through a residential area next to a children's hospital. 

Russia has bombs and missiles that can be fitted with cluster warheads, and most of the emerging evidence suggests these warheads have been launched atop rockets and missiles fired from mobile launchers. 

Stoltenberg has said he expects "more deaths, more suffering, and more destruction," as Russia continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv Indepdent reported. 

 

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