Sickening cluster bomb assault on city

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Shocking camera footage showed a rocket exploding in a massive fireball in the main square of Ukraine’s second city. And experts say residential areas were blasted with cluster bombs – which scatter smaller explosives designed to maim and kill over a much wider area.

The Kremlin denied using the weapons and claimed it was aiming at military targets.

But Sam Dubberley, head of the Digital Investigations Lab at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said: “Kharkiv appears to have been the target of multiple cluster munition attacks.

“We have geolocated one showing what appears to be several civilian victims a short way away.”

He was backed by another munitions expert, ex-British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon who said: “This does look very much like cluster bombs and similar to those I’ve seen going off in Iraq and Syria.”

CCTV showed a missile hitting the regional administration building on Freedom Square at around 8am local time.

The huge explosion smashed the facade, roof and interior and also damaged the nearby opera house and concert hall.

Footage of the aftermath showed burned-out vehicles and other debris scattered around the landmark square – one of the largest in Europe.

Regional governor Oleg Sinegubov called the attack a war crime, adding: “Russian occupiers continue to use heavy weaponry against the civilian population.”

He said Russia launched GRAD and cruise missiles on Kharkiv but the city’s defence was holding to protect its 1.5 million people.

One of the dead in the city yesterday was an Indian student killed by shelling, the country’s foreign ministry confirmed – one of thousands of foreign students trapped in Ukraine since the invasion started.

Maria Avdeeva, an international security expert based in Kharkiv, told the BBC: “Yesterday there was very intense shelling on residential areas. Actually, it was the first time that Russia was deliberately targeting houses with people living there.

“We still have water, it is running in the house. But at any moment Russia could hit the critical infrastructure facilities. There are shortages of food already.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated calls for Nato to impose a no-fly zone over his country, something the alliance insists it will not do.

He said: “This is not about dragging Nato countries into war. The truth is everyone has long since been dragged into war and definitely not by Ukraine, but by Russia.”

Asked about the situation in Kharkiv during a press conference in Estonia, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it “absolutely sickening”.

He added: “It reminds me of the shelling of Sarajevo market by the Serbs, the shelling of innocent people in Bosnia, it has that feel to me of an atrocity committed deliberately against a civilian centre. I think people’s stomachs are being turned by what’s happening, and they’re seeing it’s necessary to stand up against Russian aggression and to support the Ukrainians.”

The Slovenian foreign ministry said the country’s consulate in Ukraine was destroyed in the attack on Kharkiv but no employees were injured in the attack.

One local, Anna Proskurnina, 24, said bombs were raining down “like thunder”.

Ms Proskurnina said she had lost 6.6lb in weight since the invasion started. She explained: “The anxiety is way too high to even put something in your mouth. I took a cookie with a cup of tea today and felt like I’m going to puke. It feels horrible allowing yourself to eat.”

Ms Proskurnina added: “We live on the first floor so we stay here but every time there is shelling close I can hear neighbours rushing down to the basement.

“My biggest fear would be to lose the internet connection so we wouldn’t know what’s [happening] as a couple of areas are out of electricity and mobile connection. I’ve been trying to connect a logic path between everything and cannot think of anything else but pure genocide.”

Another resident is hiding in a bomb shelter with her family, for fear of not knowing where Russian shelling will strike next.

She said: “I’m here with my two children, my husband and other people who live in our [home].” The woman said Ukraine’s president was right to call Russia’s actions in Ukraine a war crime, adding: “It’s in all parts of the city”.

Q&A

WHAT IS A THERMOBARIC BOMB?

Also called a vacuum bomb because after initial explosion, a low-pressure zone sucks back towards the blast site. Can cause embolism in lungs and is highly damaging to structures.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Creates enormous heat, up to 3,000 kelvins (2,700C). Blastwave is not as high as a conventional high explosive, but it lasts for longer.

WHAT ARE CLUSTER MUNITIONS?

Delivered by rocket or missile, they contain multiple submunitions which open mid-air and explode on impact. Hundreds can be delivered in one go.

WHY ARE THEY CONTROVERSIAL?

Indiscriminate when used in a city, yielding only death and destruction.

Comment by George Graham

The laws of armed conflict exist to limit the effects of war by protecting people who are not participating in hostilities.

In any conflict, including the current war in Ukraine, combatants have an obligation to uphold these laws. Serious violations are war crimes.

A key principle is that armies need to distinguish between combatants and civilians.

They should take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties, they should not use any more force than is strictly necessary and any harm caused to civilians should be proportionate to the anticipated military advantage.

Reports of the use of cluster bombs are deeply concerning. When these weapons are fired they eject so-called “bomblets” over a wide area. Each of these bomblets can kill or permanently injure.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans all use of such lethal force. Neither Russia nor Ukraine have signed this convention but these weapons are indiscriminate by design and they overwhelmingly kill and injure civilians. This is contrary to international law.

Not all bomblets explode, which means such munitions leave a deadly legacy waiting to happen. In this way, they threaten lives and hinder recovery for years to come.

The threat of thermobaric bombs is also hugely worrying. These weapons produce exceptionally powerful blast waves, causing much more damage than conventional bombs. They are not illegal, indeed many armies use them for a range of purposes.

However, because of their huge blast impact, it is very hard to see how their use in populated areas could be anything other than indiscriminate and therefore illegal.

The consequences of the use of explosive weapons in such places are tragically predictable. Studies show 90 per cent of casualties are civilian.

Heavy weapons fired into cities inevitably cause complex, life-changing injuries and psychological trauma. They also drive people out of their homes and destroy vital infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, bridges, electricity supply and water systems.

This long-lasting harm is likely to far outweigh any direct advantage for the military.

Even so-called “surgical strikes” are often much less precise than imagined, and the power of the explosion often means they cause inevitable damage to civilians.

A strike aimed at a military target such as an airport can hit a residential area 300 metres away.

Directing firepower at civilians is a “grave breach” of the Geneva Conventions and is typically treated as a war crime.

The International Criminal Court has said that it will open an investigation. Ukraine has agreed to accept the court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes on its territory. Time will tell whether this leads to convictions. ? Humanity & Inclusion UK (HI) was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and campaigns against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

• George Graham is Chief Executive of Humanity & Inclusion UK

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