Ukraine, human rights groups claim that Russia used cluster and vacuum bombs

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 – Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States on Monday accused Russia of attacking Ukrainians with cluster and vacuum bombs, weapons that were condemned by various international organizations.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say Russian forces appear to have used widely banned cluster munitions, accusing Amnesty of attacking a preschool in northeastern Ukraine while civilians took refuge inside.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told reporters after meeting with members of the US Congress that Russia had used a thermobaric weapon, known as a vacuum bomb, to invade her country.

“Today they used the vacuum bomb,” Markarova said after meeting with lawmakers. “… The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is great.

A vacuum bomb or thermobaric weapon draws oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, usually producing an explosive wave of significantly longer duration than a conventional explosive and capable of evaporating human bodies.

There is no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons were used in the conflict in Ukraine. CNN reported that one of his teams spotted a Russian thermobaric jet system for volleys near the Ukrainian border early Saturday afternoon.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said she had seen reports, but there was no confirmation that Russia had used such weapons. “If that were true, it would potentially be a war crime,” she told a news briefing, noting that there are international organizations that will appreciate it, and President Joe Biden’s administration will appear to be part of that conversation. .

The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

Markarova said Ukraine is working actively with the Biden administration and Congress to obtain more weapons and tougher sanctions.

“They have to pay, they have to pay a high price,” she told reporters after leaving the meeting.

A lawmaker attending the meeting, Democrat Brad Sherman, said Ukrainians had asked for a US-restricted no-fly zone over Ukraine, but said it was too dangerous because it could provoke a conflict with Russia. Read more

Amnesty International has said that international humanitarian law prohibits the use of essentially indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions. Carrying out indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians is a war crime.

Report by Patricia Zengerle, additional report by Eric Beach; Edited by Leslie Adler, Rosalba O’Brien, Mary Millikon and Sandra Mahler

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