Banned Cluster Bombs Were Used On Civilians By Russia

Moscow's denial of attack 'unfounded', says rights group

- Arpan Rai

Russia targeted civilian evacuations from a Ukrainian railway station using banned cluster munitions in one of the worst atrocities of the year-long conflict, a new investigation has found. Last April's Kramatorsk station attack remains one of the deadliest incidents of the war, killing more than 58 civilians including five children and injuring: more than a hundred.

Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of being behind the attack at the crowded railway station, which was inside Ukrainian territory and one of the last active rail lines away from the Donetsk front line at the time. Both sides have said short-range Tochka-U ballistic missiles, which are notoriously inaccurate, were used in the Kramatorsk attack, with Volodymyr Zelensky saying its use was a "war crime". Russia said it was not responsible, arguing that it was not deploying Tochka-U missiles in Ukraine at that time.

Yet analysis released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) provides compelling evidence that the basis of Russia's denial is "completely unfounded", said the organisation's researcher Richard Weir. In collaboration with Situ Research, HRW compiled evidence showing Russia has likely deployed TochkaU missile systems in Ukraine from the first day of invasion, especially from a facility in the village of Kunie near Izium, and that these missiles were present around the time of the Kramatorsk attack on 8 April. Kunie is less than 100km away from Kramatorsk, well within the missiles' range.