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Ukraine Reports Nearly 6,000 Russian Cluster Munition Strikes Against Civilians Since 2022
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is calling on the international community to take decisive action in response to Russia’s deliberate and widespread use of cluster munitions against Ukraine.
In a statement published on June 26, the ministry highlights what it describes as a large-scale, targeted, and systematic campaign by Russian forces to deploy cluster munitions in violation of international humanitarian norms.
According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 5,974 instances of cluster munition use by Russia have been documented since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Russian troops have launched repeated missile and bomb attacks against both Ukraine’s Defense Forces and civilian populations using systems such as Smerch, Grad, Uragan, Tochka-U, and air-dropped bombs. These weapons are equipped with cluster submunitions including 9N210, 9N235, KOBe 3B-30, Q-16, KE 136B3, M42, and SHOAB-0.5.
Cluster munitions are weapons that release dozens or even hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area. These bomblets often fail to explode on impact, posing long-term risks to civilians.
“These are not isolated incidents,” the ministry emphasizes. “Cities across Ukraine—including Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Chuhuiv, Dobropillia, Okhtyrka, and Zatoka—as well as areas in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions have all suffered from similar attacks, causing extensive civilian casualties and destroying homes, hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry warns that the use of cluster munitions is part of a broader strategy of terror and intimidation aimed at the civilian population.
“Russia is deliberately using cluster munitions to maximize suffering and destruction. These are war crimes—and they are being committed systematically,” the statement reads. “What is more, Moscow is exporting these tactics to its allies, including Iran and North Korea.”
According to the ministry, Russia’s actions grossly violate the fundamental norms of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which defines intentional attacks against civilians as a war crime.
Earlier, it was repoted that civilian casualties in Ukraine rose by nearly 50% in the first five months of 2025, according to a new report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.
The sharp increase is attributed to Russia’s intensified use of ballistic missiles targeting Ukrainian cities.
