Zolochev after shelling by the invaders on June 17/Viktor Kovalenko
Russia continues to use dangerous cluster bombs to target civilians in Ukraine. This time, the village of Zolochev, Kharkiv region, came under such shelling.
The head of the Zolochiv community, Viktor Kovalenko, spoke about the details of the shelling of Zolochev. According to him, the shelling took place at about 2:00 on the night of June 17.
According to preliminary data, seven houses were damaged as a result of Russian shelling. Whether there are victims is still unknown.
Consequences of night shelling of Zolochev on June 17/Photo by Viktor Kovalenko
Shelling of Zolochev
Zolochev is located north of Kharkov towards the Russian border.
In the evening of 16 June, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its report reported that during the day in the Kharkiv direction the enemy used cannon artillery and multiple launch rocket systems in the areas of the settlements of Zolochiv, Udy, Bayrak, Pobeda, Rubizhnoye, Verkhny Saltov, Pechenegy and Lebyazhe.
< p>On the morning of June 17, the military reported that the enemy was trying to conduct reconnaissance in force in the area of the settlement of Kochubiyevka, not far from Zolochev. Our soldiers responded with well-aimed fire and the enemy retreated.
Before that, on the night of June 14, at about 4:30 Zoloche shells on parachutes. There were no dead or wounded, four houses were damaged.
Russia uses cluster shells in the Kharkiv region
On June 15, infidels fired cluster shells at Barvenkovo.
Also, cluster bombs were used more than once to bombard Kharkov. Investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine investigated the results of shelling of Severnaya Saltovka. This residential area of the city suffered the most from enemy bombing and shelling. According to the preliminary conclusions of experts, among a number of weapons used by infidels to hit Kharkiv, they also used cluster munitions banned in most civilized countries of the world to strike at Severnaya Saltovka.
Why cluster bombs are dangerous
Cluster munitions are aerial bombs, artillery shells or rockets, which instead of one large explosive shell contain tens or even hundreds of smaller submunitions.
After launch, a cluster bomb or rocket decelerates at a given point and scatters minimunitions over a large area – size one or two football fields. This allows a single launcher to destroy many targets instead of just one.
Cluster munitions threaten civilians for two reasons. Firstly, they hit a wide area, not distinguishing soldiers from civilians.
Secondly, not all miniprojectiles explode on impact. Up to a quarter of submunitions can remain on the ground and endanger civilians for months, years or even decades after a conflict. Some miniprojectiles are brightly colored or look like balls or cylinders to attract children. Due to the small size of the projectiles, farmers who cultivate the field may not notice.
Cluster munitions have killed more than 22,000 people worldwide from the 1960s to 2020. At the same time, more than 18 thousand of them suffered not from the impact of a projectile, but from unexploded submunitions.
Therefore, the use of cluster bombs in populated areas is considered a grave violation of international humanitarian law. This is prohibited by the convention on cluster munitions in 2008. This convention came into effect in 2010. It has been signed by over 100 countries. At the same time, some of the largest producers of cluster munitions and countries with large stockpiles of these weapons refused to sign the convention. These are the USA, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Brazil.
