- Ukraine is the only country where cluster bombs are actively being used, Human Rights Watch said.
- Hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured by the weapons, mostly used by Russian forces.
- "All countries should condemn the use of these weapons," HRW's Mary Wareham said.
Ukraine is the only country in the world where cluster bombs are being actively deployed and use in combat, and Russian forces having killed and maimed hundreds of civilians with the widely-banned munitions since invading the country, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.
"The immediate and long-term suffering that cluster munitions cause civilians make their use today in Ukraine unconscionable as well as invariably unlawful," Mary Wareham, arms advocacy director at HRW, said in a statement. "All countries should condemn the use of these weapons under any circumstances."
From the start of the war on February 24 to the end of July, cluster bombs, which are banned under an international treaty signed by 123 countries, caused at least 689 civilian casualties. The vast majority of the weapons have been used by Russia, which along with Ukraine and the United States has declined to ratify the 2008 convention on the use of such weapons.
Cluster munitions are particularly dangerous because once fired, the weapons break apart into multiple little bombs, some of which do not always explode upon impact. The unexploded ordinance can, like landmines, pose a threat for years, putting civilians, including children, at risk.
Russia's use of the weapon was documented in the opening hours of its invasion. On Feb. 25, Amnesty International said it had confirmed the use of cluster munitions on a nursery and kindergarten in northeastern Ukraine where civilians were sheltering, killing a child and two others.
Ukraine, to a lesser extent, has also used cluster bombs. In March, The New York Times said it had documented Ukrainian forces using the weapons against Russian troops. No casualties were reported though.
In Kharkiv and Derhachi, contested cities in the eastern part of the country, Russia has reportedly used cluster munitions repeatedly against civilian targets. In May, HRW said, Russian forces fired cluster bombs at a cultural center where aid workers were preparing food for local residents. Russian troops are also said to have used cluster munitions on a maternity clinic.
HRW said it "found no evident military objective," making the attacks likely war crimes.
Russia has denied using the weapons. "The so-called human rights activists only serve the interests of the local ruling class," the Russian embassy in the US tweeted in June.
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