Emergency providers in Kyiv have recovered fragments of cluster munitions following the in a single day Russian missile and drone assault on June 17, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported, calling it additional proof of Russia's "genocide" in opposition to Ukrainians.
"Within the capital's Nyvky neighborhood, emergency staff at the moment are discovering these sorts of cluster munition components," Klitschko mentioned in an announcement shared on social media. "One other clear signal of the genocide Russia is committing in opposition to Ukrainians."
Cluster munitions are banned below worldwide legislation by greater than 100 international locations resulting from their indiscriminate nature and the long-term risk they pose to civilians, particularly when unexploded submunitions stay hidden in residential areas.
Whereas Russia and Ukraine should not signatories to the Conference on Cluster Munitions, worldwide humanitarian organizations have repeatedly condemned using such weapons in populated areas. Ukraine makes use of cluster munitions on the battlefield in opposition to Russian forces.
The mayor's feedback got here hours after one of many largest and deadliest assaults on the Ukrainian capital in months, wherein at the least 15 individuals had been killed and almost 100 injured. The Russian strike, which lasted almost 9 hours, included waves of kamikaze drones, ballistic missiles, and what authorities now affirm had been banned explosive components.
President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to as the assault "one of the horrifying assaults on Kyiv," saying greater than 440 drones and 32 missiles had been launched throughout Ukraine in a single day.
"Such assaults are pure terrorism," he mentioned in an announcement on social media. "And the entire world, the U.S., and Europe should lastly reply as civilized societies reply to terrorists."
Zelensky confirmed that harm had been reported in eight districts of Kyiv, with emergency staff nonetheless looking for survivors beneath the rubble of a destroyed condo block.
He added that strikes additionally hit Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv areas. "Fifteen individuals are confirmed lifeless. My condolences to their households and family members," Zelensky mentioned.
International Minister Andrii Sybiha additionally condemned the assault, calling it a "large and brutal strike" timed intentionally to coincide with the G7 summit, which is going down in Canada on June 16-17.
The Kyiv IndependentLucy Pakhnyuk