Ukraine's MFA Urges Action Over Russia’s Illegal Cluster Bomb Use
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has issued a strong statement condemning Russia’s widespread and deliberate use of cluster munitions throughout its war of aggression, describing it as a flagrant and systematic violation of international humanitarian law.
According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 5,974 cases of Russia’s use of cluster munitions have already been documented, The Gaze reports.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine draws the attention of the international community to the large-scale, deliberate, targeted, and systematic use of cluster munitions by Russia during its aggression against Ukraine,” the statement reads.
Russian forces continue to target both military and civilian areas using multiple launch rocket systems such as Smerch, Grad, Uragan, Tochka-U, and air-dropped bombs with submunitions. These weapons are internationally condemned for their indiscriminate impact and long-term danger to civilians.
The MFA highlights several incidents of exceptional brutality, including:
• March 17, 2022: An Uragan cluster munition strike in Chernihiv killed 22 people and injured 31 others.
• April 8, 2022: A Tochka-U missile hit the Kramatorsk railway station during a mass evacuation, killing 54 and wounding 135 civilians.
• June 17, 2025: A Kh-69 missile strike on Kyiv left behind 29 objects resembling cluster submunitions.
“This is far from an exhaustive list,” the MFA notes, referencing additional strikes in Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Chuhuiv, Dobropillia, Okhtyrka, Zatoka, and areas across Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions, which have caused “numerous civilian casualties, including children,” and devastated homes, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure.
The Ministry states plainly: “Russian perpetrators deliberately and systematically use cluster munitions to maximize civilian casualties and destruction. This is an element of Moscow’s broader policy of terror against the Ukrainian people.”
Further, it warns that Russia is not only using these weapons but is also “training its accomplices — Iran and North Korea — in these criminal methods of warfare.”
The MFA stresses that such acts clearly violate the Geneva Conventions, Protocol I, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which classify intentional attacks on civilians and non-military targets as war crimes.
In response to these crimes, Ukraine calls on its partners to take urgent and firm measures. This includes the imposition of new, crippling sanctions targeting Russia’s defense sector, energy revenues, banking system, and all individuals or entities that directly or indirectly enable its war effort.
Kyiv also urges an accelerated supply of air defense systems and long-range strike capabilities, as well as increased investment in Ukraine’s domestic defense industry to strengthen its ability to protect civilian lives and resist further aggression.
Read more on The Gaze: Russia’s War on Ukraine: An Unprecedented Act of Genocide Targeting Ukraine’s National Identity and Existence