Ukraine says charges against military 'groundless'
Iran Press TV
Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:3PM GMT
Ukraine has rejected allegations that its armed forces indiscriminately used banned cluster bombs in clashes with pro-Russians in the country's east.
"These charges are groundless," Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman, Bogdan Senyk, said on Tuesday.
Vladyslav Seleznyov, the spokesman for Ukraine's campaign in the east, also dismissed claims that government forces have used cluster munitions in populated areas of the eastern city of Donetsk.
"Human Rights Watch knows that these are banned weapons - and we do not use banned weapons," Seleznyov stated, adding, "Neither do we shell civilian neighborhoods because this endangers lives. But our opponents constantly attack these neighborhoods."
On Monday, Human Rights Watch published a detailed investigation that points out 12 incidents where cluster bombs killed six people, including a Swiss aid worker, in and around Donetsk earlier this month.
"While it was not possible to conclusively determine responsibility for many of the attacks, the evidence points to Ukrainian government forces' responsibility for several cluster munition attacks on Donetsk," the rights group added.
Cluster bombs are a type of explosive weapons that explode in the air and scatter dozens of sub-munitions over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned in most countries due to the indiscriminate nature of the weapons. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which entered into force in 2010, has 114 member states. Ukraine has not joined the treaty.
According to the United Nations, more than 3,600 people have been killed during the six months of fighting between the Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine.
MP/HSN/SS
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