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HomeLatest NewsInvestigators Gather Evidence of Possible Russian War Crimes in Ukraine

Investigators Gather Evidence of Possible Russian War Crimes in Ukraine

Date: March 28, 2024 Time: 22:35:54

In less than two weeks, there have been several reports of war crimes in Ukraine inflicted by Russia. In addition to the mass attacks on civilians, evidence suggests that Russia has abused some deadly weapons such as cluster munitions during the war.

Video and photographs show Russia’s atrocities including the use of cluster bombs in residential areas, said Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative journalism website Bellingcat.

Footage of the attack in Kharkiv Monday, which has been described as a cluster bomb by a Bellingcat researcher, shows residents walking in a nearby park just before it happens. The area is residential.

A team of Russian intelligence says that CCTV footage filmed in Kharkiv last Friday shows a cluster bomb being detonated. The driver of the car quickly reacts when explosions start raining around the car. The researchers conclude that, given the absence of aircraft noise, the bomb was likely fired by the Russian Grad rocket system.

Cluster munitions, which scatter small bombs indiscriminately over a wide area, are banned in more than 100 countries, including the UK, France, and Germany. However, Russia and Ukraine (as well as the US) have not signed a treaty that bans them.

Tests

Videos and pictures of remnants of cluster bombs have surfaced in recent news. These include pieces of weapons found on a Kharkiv road on Friday and a video of one hitting Bukhara, which is northwest of Kyiv.

A powerful attack on a kindergarten in Akhtyrka, about 100 kilometers west of Kharkiv, on Friday, resulted in many casualties. Drone footage taken after the attack showed numerous blast sites and people at risk of life-threatening injuries.

According to Amnesty International, three civilians were killed, and one of them was a child. “There is no justification for dropping cluster bombs in civilian areas,” said Mrs. Callamard.

Not all international humanitarian law falls under the Geneva Convention, but targeting civilians and military installations is against UN rules. Russia has been denying that its attacks on the latter category of targets are illegal.

“If you can’t tell whether a target is military or not, assume that it’s civilian. An indiscriminate attack is illegal” says Roos Boer, head of the Pax peace project in the Netherlands.

In its video that shows the Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, there is evidence of disregard for innocent civilians. On Tuesday, a missile was recorded against the regional government building in the center of Kharkiv.

At least 10 people were killed in a morning shelling. Hours later, Russia announced that it would carry out strikes on official buildings in Kyiv.

On Monday, videos captured multiple explosions from the launch of multiple MLRS in Kharkiv. The Diamond City Tower is seen clearly in one video, as are bomb fragments and dead civilians.

Explore from day one

Western intelligence agencies have long been vocal about their concerns that Russian forces will use thermobaric weapons and cluster bombs in Syria, but Russia insists that Ukraine has fabricated these allegations. So far, there’s no evidence to prove it.

It’s important to document attacks on civilian populations. A Western official mentioned this obligation recently, as well as the need for vigilance and preparation of war crimes or violations of international humanitarian law in this conflict.

Governments are just starting to talk about how they’ll act. However, researchers are already doing their part. Higgins says that, unlike other recent conflicts such as the war in Syria, “from day one there has been an ‘open source intelligence community’ that collects and studies video and photo evidence.”

Thanks to the willingness of Ukrainians and others to document the conflict on their phones, researchers such as Bellingcat have had a wealth of evidence at their fingertips. By documenting these pieces of evidence, they were able to investigate and document the conflict. They were also able to geolocate the locations thanks to what was captured on the phones.

Through Bellingcat, Dan has partnered with Mnemonic, a non-governmental organization that’s committed to archiving social media and mobile phone evidence. The goal is to protect all data down to the level of evidence, which he predicts will one day have relevance at the International Criminal Court.

* This website provides news content gathered from various internet sources. It is crucial to understand that we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented Read More

Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy is an associate editor for ePrimefeed covering latest news, economy and movie.
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