Amnesty International accuses Russia of war crimes in Ukraine

Amnesty International accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on Kharkiv, many of which used banned cluster bombs, had killed hundreds of civilians.

In a report on Ukraine's second-largest city, the human rights organization said that "the repeated bombing of residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks that have killed and injured hundreds of civilians and thus constitute war crimes."

"This applies to strikes carried out using cluster (munitions) as well as to those carried out using other types of unguided rockets and unguided artillery shells," she added.

"The continued use of such imprecise explosive weapons in populated civilian areas, knowing that they frequently cause large numbers of civilian casualties, may amount to directing attacks against the civilian population," it added.

Amnesty said it had uncovered evidence in Kharkiv of the repeated use by Russian forces of 9N210 and 9N235 cluster bombs and scattered landmines, all of which are prohibited by international agreements.
Cluster bombs shoot dozens of bombs into the air, scattering them randomly over hundreds of square meters.

Amnesty International said that the scattered landmines combine "the worst characteristics of cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines".

The report, entitled "Anyone can die at any time", details how Russian forces began targeting civilian areas in Kharkiv on the first day of the invasion on February 24 and how the "relentless" bombardment continued for two months, causing "massive destruction." The city of 1.5 million people.

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