Cartridge ammunition has deprived life or injured more than 1200 civilians in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. This is stated on Monday by the annual report of the International Coalition Against Cassette Munition (CMC), which is advocated for its liquidation. While Ukraine has also used this ammunition, Russia, according to the report, is deploying it “to a large extent” from the first day of the war. According to the AFP report, TASR reports this.
The highest number of victims in the world
Since February 2022, when Russia was militarily attacked by neighboring Ukraine, Kiev has recorded the highest number of victims of cassette ammunition per year in the world. As a result of its use, according to CMC, at least 193 people out of a total of 314 victims worldwide died in Ukraine last year. Most of the total number of more than 1200 victims were recorded in the first year of the war.
This figure is – as the annual report emphasizes – certainly underestimated, since only last year Ukraine suffered approximately 40 attacks by cassette ammunition, in which the numbers of dead and injured were not listed.
The key states of the Convention did not sign
Cassette ammunition can be dropped from the plane or fired from the cannon. The cassette bomb disintegrates in the air and dispels into a wide area of submunction, such as small bombs. However, this kind of ammunition also poses a permanent threat, because many bombs do not explode after impacting the ground and will actually become a trail.
So far, 124 countries, including 24 NATO members and 21 European Union members – have been joined to the Cassette Cassette Convention – 112 has been ratified, 12 signed by the Convention, but has not yet ratified it. Russia, Ukraine and the United States are not among these countries. The Convention was not joined by Myanmar and Syria – the only two other countries in which last year they recorded attacks by cassette ammunition.
AFP recalled that the US was exposed to criticism in 2023 for its decision to deliver this kind of ammunition of Kiev. Since then, these weapons have been transported to Ukraine at least seven separate shipments, the CMC report.
Concerns about Russian aggression change attitudes
Lithuania became the first country to resign from the Convention in March this year, citing regional security concerns as a reason. Following this step, along with Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, they also announced that they would withdraw from the Ottawan Convention on the ban on the anti -defense mines because of fear of Russian aggression.
CMC has pointed out that there are “disturbing obstacles” at global level that threatens efforts to introduce new international standards condemning the use of cassette ammunition.
