Bellingcat has identified multiple examples of cluster munitions being fired into civilian areas of Ukraine, including residential areas, schools and hospitals.
bellingcat.com/news/2022/02/2…
Cluster munitions deploy a large number of smaller sub-munitions over a target, which then spread out and cover an area in explosions. They are often described as an indiscriminate weapon due to the inherently large area they affect.
In Ukraine we have seen examples of cargo rockets used by BM 27 & BM 30 multiple launch rocket systems. These cargo rockets carry the submunitions.
When they hit the ground, the cargo warheads and rocket motors can give an indication of the direction of origin of the rocket.
Over the first few days of the Russian invasion, we have seen multiple examples of their use in areas across Ukraine, including Bucha, Okhtyra, Vvedenka & Trostyanets.
We have also seen multiple examples of their use in civilian areas of Kharkiv.
This includes a cluster munition strike which impacted immediately next to the Kharkiv regional children’s hospital on the north side of Kharkiv.
The direction of origin of these strikes indicate the point of origin was to the north, from Russia and areas currently controlled by Russia.
In a particularly egregious incident, a kindergarten in Okhtyrka appears to have been impacted by a cluster munition, with the cargo warhead landing about 200 metres away.
We continue to collect examples of cluster munition use in the following thread:
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