Russia appears to have used banned cluster munitions to indiscriminately shell civilian areas in Ukraine’s east that had stood up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion in what would constitute a war crime.
Kharkiv, which has witnessed some of the heaviest fighting of the war so far, was hit by rockets fired from Russian positions on Monday – with video showing a shopping centre in the Serpnia area blanketed by explosions. A military source told MailOnline that the videos showed ‘cluster’ munitions had been used.
‘The BM-21 Grad is a multiple launch rocket system used for ‘area denial’, dropping cluster bombs on a concentrated area,’ the expert said. ‘It’s mainly used on enemy troops before an offensive. Used against civilians, it’s not only a war crime, but has only one purpose – to spread terror and alarm among the civilian population.’
