Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report this week, accusing the Ukrainian military of using banned cluster munitions as they battle against pro-Russia separatists in Eastern Ukraine.
HRW said it had evidence of “widespread use of cluster munitions,” adding that, “while it was not possible to conclusively determine responsibility for many of the attacks, the evidence points to Ukrainian government forces’ responsibility for several cluster munition attacks on Donetsk”.
"It is shocking to see a weapon that most countries have banned used so extensively in eastern Ukraine," said Mark Hiznay, a senior arms researcher at HRW.
However, Ukraine’s "anti-terrorist operation" spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov dismissed the report as “utter nonsense”, saying "we do not use banned weapons… Neither do we shell civilian neighbourhoods because this endangers lives."
The United States said that it was “not in a position to confirm” whether cluster munitions has been used in the conflict so far.
Germany also responded to the report, with German government spokesman Steffen Seibert telling a news conference that cluster bombs were “inhumane” and called the accusations "serious".
He went on to add that Germany would be investigating the report further, saying,
"The German government has a strong interest in getting these events cleared up and by that I of course mean the events regarding the alleged use of cluster bombs… We call upon the parties in the conflict to co-operate in a thorough clarification of the events."
Ukraine has not signed up to a global treaty banning cluster bombs.
See the full report from HRW here.