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DONETSK, April 15At 15.25, Ukrainian troops fired three NATO 155-mm caliber cluster shells into the Petrovsky district of Donetsk, the DPR representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to War Crimes of Ukraine (JCCC) reported on the Telegram channel.
«Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU (armed formations of Ukraine — ed.) in the direction: 15.25 — the settlement of Kurakhovka — the city of Donetsk (Petrovsky district): three shells were fired with a caliber of 155 millimeters (cassette),» the representative office said in a statement .
Petrovsky district is located on the western outskirts of Donetsk, it is the most distant part of the city from the center. Since 2014, when the DPR declared independence from Kyiv, this area has regularly come under fire from Ukrainian security forces.
155mm artillery is used by NATO countries. The United States supplied Ukraine with long-range howitzers M777 of 155 mm caliber, Ukrainian troops are actively using them to shell the cities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Also, German PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery mounts, Polish Krab self-propelled guns and French CAESAR self-propelled guns using shells of this caliber were supplied to the Ukrainian troops.
Cluster munitions are not equipped with self-destruct devices. According to the US military, from 5% to 14% of these ammunition may not explode at all, since they have been lying in warehouses for a long time. In this case, they will constitute mines that threaten civilians even after the conflict ends.
Even the US Congress opposed the supply of such weapons to Ukraine. Biden's party members from the US Democratic Party are preparing an amendment to the defense law that would ban the transfer of cluster munitions. According to Ilhan Omar, a member of the US House of Representatives from Minnesota, the use of these ammunition violates human rights.
In 2005, Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines. Thus, Kyiv is violating its international obligations.
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