Human Rights Watch says Ukrainian forces have deployed “massive” antipersonnel mines in Izium, causing civilian casualties.
Human Rights Watch said Ukraine should investigate the “apparent use” of banned antipersonnel landmines by its forces in the northeastern region of Izyum while it was under Russian occupation.
Russian forces occupied the city in Kharkiv Province on April 1, more than a month after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full military invasion of the neighboring country. The area was then liberated by Ukrainian forces in early September as part of a sweeping counterattack that pushed back Russian soldiers from the northeast.
“It appears that Ukrainian forces have widely dispersed landmines around the Izyum region, causing civilian casualties and posing a continuing danger,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. Report Released on Tuesday.
The rights group found that Ukrainian forces fired PFM anti-personnel mines into Russian-occupied areas near Russian facilities. Also known as “butterfly mines” or “petal mines,” PFM anti-personnel mines differ from other mines that are laid by hand. Instead, the PFM mines at Izium “function only when scattered by aircraft, missiles, and artillery, or when launched from specialized vehicles or launchers.”
Their use is prohibited by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty – which Ukraine signed in 1999 and ratified in 2005.
“Uncleared landmines lead to displacement, impede the delivery of humanitarian aid, and prevent agricultural activities,” the report states.
Russian forces have also used antipersonnel mines in several areas across Ukraine since the war began in February, said the rights group, which documented the issue in three different previously published reports.
“But this does not justify Ukraine’s use of these banned weapons,” Goose said.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has so far failed to respond to a Human Rights Watch investigation into the use of mines, saying in a written response on November 23 that “information about the types of weapons used by Ukraine… should not be commented on before the war ends.”
According to the report, the ministry said, “The army is abiding by its international obligations, including the prohibition of the use of any antipersonnel mines.”
The report’s findings come after Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with more than 100 people, including witnesses, landmine victims, doctors and Ukrainian deminers, between September 19 and October 9 in the Izyum region.
Human Rights Watch said it had verified 11 civilian deaths from landmines in nine different areas in and around the city of Izium.
The report read: “All of those interviewed said they had seen mines on the ground, knew someone who had been hit by one, or had been warned of their presence during the Russian occupation of Izium.”
Health care workers who spoke to Human Rights Watch said that approximately 50 civilians, including five children, were treated for what appeared to be antipersonnel mine injuries, half of them for amputations of a foot or lower leg.
“They are everywhere,” one Ukrainian deminer told Human Rights Watch.
The report also collected more than 100 accounts from residents who say that the Russian occupation forces have published and distributed leaflets to warn of the dangers of landmines.
The report also states: “They also cleared landmines from public areas and civilians’ private property, and transported some mine victims to Russia for medical care — actions inconsistent with their being responsible for laying the mines.”
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