Detailed information about the attack on the preschool Feb 25.
Ukraine: Cluster munitions kill child and two other civilians taking shelter at a preschool - Amnesty International
A preschool in north-eastern Ukraine was hit on the morning of 25 February with widely-banned cluster munitions while civilians took shelter inside, killing three of them, including a child, and wounding another child, Amnesty International said today. The attack appears to have been carried out by Russian forces, which were operating nearby, and which have a shameful record of using cluster munitions in populated areas.
Amnesty International has confirmed that
a 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on the Sonechko nursery and kindergarten in the town of Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast, where local people were seeking safety from the fighting. The strike may constitute a war crime.
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“There is no possible justification for dropping cluster munitions in populated areas, let alone near a school,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International. “This attack bears all the hallmarks of Russia’s use of this inherently indiscriminate and internationally-banned weapon, and shows flagrant disregard for civilian life.”
The strike violates the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks and damaged a school, a structure legally entitled to special protection. Under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions — a treaty backed by more than 100 states, but which Ukraine and Russia have not joined — the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions is prohibited under all circumstances. Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions. Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.
Drone video footage taken from the scene shows that cluster munitions struck at least seven locations on or near the building, four on the roof and three on the pavement immediately outside the school. Two injured or dead civilians are also visible in the footage, as are pools of blood. An additional 65 photos and videos that Amnesty International acquired from a local source shows more details of the scene, the victims and their family members, and the damage to the school.
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