Amnesty International confirmed the use of cluster bombs by Russian troops during the invasion of Ukraine

The unconventional weapon was used to attack a preschool where people were sheltering. After the explosion three people died, including a child

Amnesty International denounced this Sunday that Russian forces bombed a preschool in northeastern Ukraine last Friday with a cluster bomb that killed three people , including a child.

The affected center was in the Ojtrika region and was hit by a Uragan rocket, where people were taking refuge, in what could be a war crime, according to the organization.

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) had assured this Saturday that another cluster bomb hit the outskirts of a hospital in Vuhledar , in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, which caused the death of four civilians and left ten injured, six of them health workers.

“ This cruel attack has killed and injured civilians, and damaged a hospital ,” HRW weapons director Steve Goose said in a statement , calling on Russian forces to stop using cluster munitions and to “ stop illegal attacks. ” with weapons that kill and maim indiscriminately .”

Aerial images in the hands of Amnesty show that the ammunition hit at least seven places in or near the building, four on the roof and three on the pavement in the immediate vicinity of the school.

“ WARNING: this attack may constitute concrete evidence of a war crime by Russia . The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should open a preliminary investigation since he has had jurisdiction since 2014 to investigate these atrocities, ”José Miguel Vivanco asked, citing a tweet from Juan Pappier, a senior investigator at the HRW Americas Division.

“Human Rights Watch documented, with direct testimony and digital video corroboration, Russia’s use of indiscriminate weapons against a hospital. 4 civilians were killed,” Pappier said.

Amnesty recalls that cluster munitions are a weapon “indiscriminate by nature” because they are spread over a wide area and have an extremely high error rate , hence its use is prohibited by a treaty to which a hundred countries.

The NGO recalls that this attack is the fourth verified against a school —Save the Children has denounced six— for which the organization considers it “imperative” that the member states of the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC) “urgently study how to guarantee the timely and effective collection and preservation of evidence of any crimes under international law committed in Ukraine.”

Although Russia and Ukraine are not parties to the ICC, in 2015 Ukraine accepted the court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on its territory as of February 20, 2014.

According to the Geneva Conventions, as of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin could qualify as a war criminal since intentional homicide and extensive destruction of property “not justified by military necessity and carried out illegally and senselessly.”

“The concept of war crime has been interpreted inconsistently and has been applied unevenly to leaders or countries (…). In Ukraine, Putin’s ‘war by choice’ has clearly violated international law by invading a sovereign country and attempting to overthrow his government, ” explains Robin Wright in The New Yorker .

According to HRW investigations, cluster bombs have already been used by both the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed armed groups in clashes in eastern Ukraine between July 2014 and February 2015.

” All states party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions must unequivocally condemn this attack and any other use of this horrific weapon ,” said Goose, who concluded: ” The risks to civilians are intolerably high

(With information from Europe Press