New evidence of Ukrainian use of banned landmines: HRW
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges the Ukrainian government to uphold a pledge it made earlier this month not to deploy banned landmines against Russians.
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Ukrainian Military Forces servicemen walk past a metal plate that reads 'Caution mines' near Luganske village, in Donetsk region, Jan. 11, 2022. (AFP)
Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on Friday that it has found further proof of Ukrainian forces' indiscriminate deployment of illegal anti-personnel landmines against Russians in 2022.
The organization urged the Ukrainian government to uphold a pledge it made earlier this month not to deploy such weapons, to look into any reports of their possible use, and hold those responsible accountable.
"The Ukrainian government’s pledge to investigate its military’s apparent use of banned anti-personnel mines is an important recognition of its duty to protect civilians," Steve Goose, Human Rights Watch's arms director, said in a statement.
HRW said it conveyed its findings to the Ukrainian government in May; however, it received no response.
It is worth noting that anti-personnel mines can kill and maim long after a conflict is over since they are set off by a person's presence, proximity, or contact.
The current assessment is a follow-up to a January report revealing that between April and September 2022, when Ukrainian troops took control of the eastern city of Izium, they launched rockets that dispersed hundreds of PMF-1 mines in and around Izium.
According to the report, each of these rockets releases 312 PFM-1S anti-personnel mines randomly.
One warhead's handwriting was analyzed, and it was discovered that the first word was the Ukrainian word for "from," while a second Latin alphabet phrase had to do with a Kiev-based organization that the report failed to name.
The group's leader, who was likewise anonymous, posted on social media "indicating that they had donated funds to the Ukrainian military via a non-governmental organization (NGO)."
According to the investigation, images of Uragan warheads with slogans written in Ukrainian that were put online were connected to another group based in Ukraine.
Ukraine is a signatory to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and claimed it destroyed much of its Soviet stock by 2020. But in 2021 -- the year before the war erupted -- Kiev reported to the UN that it had over 3.3 million PFM mines contained in artillery rockets that were yet to be destroyed.
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