The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) through spokesperson Liz Throssell Friday said that it had received credible reports of Russian forces using cluster munitions in populated regions in Ukraine. The office has also learned of arbitrary arrests of Ukrainians who voiced their opposition through peaceful protest. 

OHCHR received a report that four civilians were killed and 10 others injured in a cluster bomb explosion on February 24 at the City Central Hospital in Vuhledar, Donetsk. The hospital, ambulances, and civilian vehicles were also damaged.

Cluster munitions have wide area effects. Under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (Convention), a cluster munition is a weapon through which several submunitions contained in it can be scattered over wide areas. Out of the many sub-munitions, some may fail to explode immediately upon launch which creates grave humanitarian repercussions both during and after the conflict. The Convention strictly prohibits the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.

Russia is not a party to the Convention. However, according to OHCHR, use of such munitions is still incompatible with the international humanitarian law principles governing the conduct of hostilities. Therefore, the use of cluster munitions may amount to war crimes.

There have also been concerns regarding arbitrary detentions of innocent individuals, especially in the east of Ukraine. However, the details of such arrests remain undisclosed to protect informants. The office believes that those detained are at risk of torture or other mistreatment. 

Apart from “indiscriminate use” of munition bombs, the use of missiles, heavy artillery shells, rockets, and airstrikes in populated regions have had devastating consequences. The office learned that on March 3, 47 civilians were killed when Russian airstrikes hit two schools and several apartment blocks in Chernihiv. On March 9, 17 civilians were injured with an additional three potentially killed.

According to the OHCHR’s Ukrainian civilian casualty update, between 4 AM on February 24, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, and 12 AM on March 12, there have been 1,663 civilian casualties. Of these casualties, 596 were killed and 1,067 were injured.