Comments by "R Johansen" (@rjohansen9486) on "Ukrainian Soldiers Under Siege: Cluster Bombing Hits Donetsk Training Ground | Report" video.

Russian authorities and armed forces have committed war crimes by carrying out deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. The Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster munitions and by firing other explosive weapons with wide-area effects such as bombs, missiles, heavy artillery shells and multiple launch rockets. As of the beginning of July 2023, the attacks had resulted in the documented deaths of between 9,200 and 16,500 civilians.
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@Hereford1642 I never said it was simple. In your first post one could get the impression that Russia had not used cluster. The Interpreter: Concerns over potential breaches of international humanitarian law in cluster munitions use in Ukraine are based on a misguided interpretation of the legal position. More so, the argument against supporting Ukraine with the provision of cluster bombs shows a fundamentally flawed assumption of moral equivalence between Ukraine and Russia, and how each country uses these munitions. Ample evidence exists of Russia’s deployment of cluster munitions against residential areas in a bid to cause maximum civilian casualties and collateral damage in its campaign against Ukraine – and in repeated instances beforehand. Ukraine, fighting on its own territory, has pledged to use these weapons judiciously and strictly in accordance with international humanitarian law. The abuse of cluster munitions by Russia has played a substantial role in the high civilian casualties and the extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including residences, healthcare facilities, and educational establishments in Ukraine. This has largely not been the subject of international condemnation, coming as it does in the context of indiscriminate missile attacks by Russia against Ukrainian populated areas and mass atrocities at closer quarters. Yet agreement by the United States to make up a shortfall in Ukrainian artillery munitions with dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) has met with widespread criticism. These concerns are indeed valid. Nevertheless, it is essential to recognise that Russia has not only violated international humanitarian law but also the principles of just war. With Russia persisting in these actions, Ukraine is no longer bound by its strictures in response.
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