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Part of a Uragan cluster munition that was most likely fired by Ukrainian forces in Husarivka while it was under Russian occupation. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Cluster munitions — a class of weapon comprising rockets, bombs, missiles, mortar and artillery shells — split open midair and dispense smaller bomblets over a wide area. The hazard to civilians remains significant until any unexploded munitions have been located and properly disposed of by experts.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which took effect in 2010, bans their use for signatories because of the indiscriminate harm the weapons can cause to civilians: Humanitarian groups have noted that 20 percent or more of antipersonnel submunitions fail to detonate on impact, yet they can explode later if they are picked up or handled.
More than 100 nations have signed the pact, though the United States, Ukraine and Russia have not.
“It’s not surprising, but it’s definitely dismaying to hear that evidence has emerged indicating that Ukraine may have used cluster munitions in this current conflict,” said Mary Wareham, advocacy director of the arms division at Human Rights Watch. “Cluster munitions are unacceptable weapons that are killing and maiming civilians across Ukraine.”
An adviser to the Ukrainian armed forces and the Ministry of Defense declined to comment.
Russian troops had seized Husarivka from Ukrainian units in the first few days of March, occupying buildings on its outskirts and near its center. The 220-millimeter Uragan artillery rocket that landed near Mr. Doroshenko’s home — fired from a truck-mounted launcher many miles away — struck on either March 6 or 7, said Mr. Doroshenko, the town’s informal leader.
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Bomb disposal technicians removing an undetonated rocket loaded with cluster munitions from a field in the village of Ridnyi Krai, Ukraine, on April 8. Russian troops have used cluster munitions on several occasions in the conflict. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
By that point, the village was well under Russian control.
During a visit around the property and Mr. Doroshenko’s street on Thursday, Times reporters viewed large pieces of the artillery rocket that dispensed the cluster munitions, confirming the type of weapon that had been fired. It landed near the Russian army’s makeshift headquarters in an adjacent farm workshop, residents said, meaning the Russian forces were almost certainly the target.
Throughout the occupation, Ukrainian forces incessantly shelled the Russian troops there, and at least two of the same type of cluster munition were lodged in a field by Mr. D