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Bellingcat Profile picture
@bellingcat
Feb 27, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
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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More from @bellingcat

Bellingcat Profile picture
Jul 23
A new report by Bellingcat’s Justice & Accountability (J&A) Unit and @GLAN_LAW detailing the use of cluster munitions in civilian areas in Kharkiv at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is published today. j-and-a.glanlaw.org/kharkiv
The report is based on 32 in-depth investigations of separate incidents that took place between February and April 2022. It offers one of the most detailed looks yet at the use of cluster munitions against civilian areas in the early stages of Russia’s full scale invasion.
Bellingcat’s J&A Unit worked on this report as a self-contained entity separated (‘firewalled’) from the rest of Bellingcat, ensuring that accountability work was conducted independently from other investigations, preventing possible bias.
Read 8 tweets
Bellingcat Profile picture
Apr 9
On March 23, a convoy of aid workers, traveling in vehicles marked with emergency flashing lights, was struck by gunfire in Gaza. Bellingcat used video footage of the incident to perform an audio analysis of the shooting. bellingcat.com/news/2025/04/0…
The rescue convoy made up of aid workers working for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Palestine Civil Defense and the United Nations disappeared on a road that we geolocated just north of Gaza’s Tal as Sultan neighborhood. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows the location of the shooting of the aid worker convoy near Tal as-Sultan on March 23, 2025. The satellite image, captured on March 29, shows matching features visible in the video, as well as tracks and moved earth, showing IDF activity in the area.
At least four vehicles were present and had stopped beside another vehicle that was located just off the road when the shooting started.
Read 18 tweets
Bellingcat Profile picture
Mar 27
Together with our publishing partners, Bellingcat continues the work of drone journalists who had been killed while documenting the war in Gaza, visualising the unprecedented scale of destruction through detailed 3D aerial maps. bellingcat.com/news/2025/03/2…
Gathering aerial footage of Gaza is a dangerous task, and Bellingcat and our partners at @FbdnStories/ ARIJ/Paper Trail Media/Die Zeit/Der Standard/ Le Monde/RFI identified several cases where drone journalists were killed or injured shortly after capturing aerial images.
In order to continue the reporting on the extent of damage caused by the war in Gaza, we are sharing satellite imagery and using a 3D modelling technique called photogrammetry to show the areas two journalists had been filming before they were struck and, thus, unable to finish reporting on.
Read 22 tweets
Bellingcat Profile picture
Feb 12
We all like to engage with cute animal videos of baby monkeys, little lion cubs… But what if they’re shown in small cages and in boxes, ready for sale? Bellingcat's @FoekePostma & contributors @ChrisOsieck and Darcy White track down a wildlife dealer bellingcat.com/news/2025/02/1…
‘BK’ is from Malaysia. Their business is selling wild animals, sometimes rare and endangered, to their social media followers. At the time of writing, ‘BK’ owned several accounts across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram and WhatsApp.
Our reporting has led to almost all of these social accounts being taken down. But for over 11 years ‘BK’ has marketed and sold animals, against platform guidelines and possibly Malaysian law. ‘BK’ regularly posted customer reviews and unboxing videos on his platforms. BK shares screenshots of their WhatsApp conversations with customers. They include videos of them unboxing their animals for the first time. Blurring by Bellingcat.
Read 9 tweets
Bellingcat Profile picture
Feb 5
The downing of flight MH17 in 2014 inspired a movement of online researchers to search for answers... Now, you can see how the Bellingcat team helped uncover those answers in a new three-part documentary series on National Geographic.
Produced in co-partnership with Passion Pictures, the series follows Bellingcat founder, Eliot Higgins, and other present and former Bellingcat researchers as they unravel the mystery of how, and by whom, the Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down. Image of the crash site- courtesy of Reuters
All 298 civilians on board the flight lost their lives. Years of investigative work was carried out in pursuit of the truth. An image of the announcement of the crash in an Malaysia airport- courtesy of Reuters
Read 8 tweets
Bellingcat Profile picture
Feb 4
Sheltering in schools or hospitals won’t be possible for many of those returning to Northern Gaza amid the ceasefire, Bellingcat found that more than 80% of former shelters have been damaged or destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). bellingcat.com/news/2025/02/0…
While the ceasefire allows displaced Palestinians to return north, recent destruction in North Gaza will leave many homeless. Based on an analysis of 50 sites for internally displaced people (IDP), many former shelters are gone.
The 50 sites were identified as shelters in a UN report released in November, 45 are schools, two are hospitals or health centres, and three were tent camps set up during the summer. These are marked on the report’s map with brown lines and the words "IDP Site Extent". Satellite imagery showing the analyzed area, the the shelters identified in the UN report are marked on the map.
Read 11 tweets

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