Ukraine accused of scattering mines in Kharkov Region
What you need to know:
- The administration announced that they had discovered the mines on Sunday and in a Telegram post showed a picture of a green butterfly-shaped device nestled in a patch of weeds.
The military-civilian administration in the Kharkov Region has accused Ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions to disperse anti-personnel mines in the village of Tokarevka.
The munitions, which are banned by a 1997 agreement, have also been deployed in Donetsk, officials say.
The administration announced that they had discovered the mines on Sunday and in a Telegram post showed a picture of a green butterfly-shaped device nestled in a patch of weeds.
The object, apparently a Soviet-era PFM-1, was almost invisible among the foliage.
Such munitions are typically scattered in large quantities, either by aircraft or artillery.
Designed to maim rather than kill, they are capable of blowing off or disfiguring a victim’s foot. The PFM-1 is banned under the 1997 Ottawa Convention, to which Ukraine is party.
The Kharkov administration accused the “Kiev regime” of planting the explosives.
The same mines have been showered across the city of Donetsk, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, throughout the past week.
Donetsk Mayor Alexey Kulemzin said on Sunday that two people had sustained injuries from the landmines, including one who lost a foot. Photos and video footage from the city showed residents placing cardboard boxes over the mines and marking the surrounding areas with warning signs.
Kulemzin said on Sunday that more than 600 such mines had been disposed of in the preceding two days.
According to him, the Kyiv regime is using terrorist methods of war against the civilian population and captured military personnel, similar to ISIS.
“The Kyiv regime resorts to a variety of provocations and terrorist attacks in the territories liberated by the RF Armed Forces in order to intimidate the civilian population living there and provoke mass discontent,” he said.
He added: In particular, in Melitopol a Ukrainian sabotage group planted a bomb at the entrance to the building of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Zaporozhye region. As a result of the explosion, four people received injuries of varying severity.
