White phosphorous bomb
© Fort RussUXB white phosphorus bomb. In the background are the classroom radiators.
In the town of Zaitsevo with a pre-war population of almost 4000 inhabitants, about 1 600 civilians cower under Ukaine's almost daily bombardments. Among them are about 500 children and nine veterans of the Second World War, very old with lots of elderly. Recently, a couple that we had visited in February got hurt, a grandmother of 80 years and her husband were hit in the arm and head.

Last week, the Ukrainian army used white phosphorus projectiles precisely in this area, yet these weapons are prohibited by Protocol III of the Geneva Convention in the war zones where civilians are concentrated, which certainly is the case of Zaïtsevo.

We rendezvoused with a company of Italian and Russian journalists to observe the situation of the large village of Zaïtsevo. Surrounded by the Ukrainian lines overlooking the town, its situation has been bad for many weeks, especially since the arrival of Nazi fanatics of Pravy Sektor who have at heart to terrorize the population.

These criminal weapons were invented by the Anglo-Saxons, Britons and Americans during World War II and were used at several levels, in so-called strategic bombing but in reality, terror on German cities, then in Korea, Vietnam and recently in Iraq and the Israelis in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainians, who are supported by the US and many European countries, have not hesitated to use these terror weapons.Injuries caused by such weapons are horrific and the damage extensive, calling to mind the survivors of the great bombing of Dresden in February 1945 and other Japanese cities.

At Zaïtsevo at least three projectiles were fired last week on a school and the civilian areanot far from the positions of the Republican insurgents. It is not possible that the Ukrainian military command does not know there are civilians in the area, as the lines are very short (between 300 and 1 km), the more so since the systematic advance of Ukrainian Nazis into the supposedly neutral zone as it was defined by the Minsk agreements guaranteed by Russia, Germany and France and signed by Ukraine.

These violations get no reaction either from the Western journalists who are silent, nor governments, including that of France, which guaranteed the Minsk agreements. The famous OSCE observers are also silent about Ukrainians encroaching on the neutral zone of the front and they close their eyes to the concentrations of prohibited and banned weapons and missiles, as is the case precisely of white phosphorous weapons.

A projectile fired by Ukrainians on Zaïtsevo landed about ten meters within Republican positions, in disregard of the nearby residential buildings. It did not explode, sinking of a meter into the ground.
White phosphorous
© Fort Russ
Another smaller, like a rocket, with aluminum fins has been recovered and shown to us. half of it was still intact containing a pink product, highly flammable, the famous white phosphorus (soldiers recover this stuff to light their fire).

The origin of the weapons is not yet known, the recovered ones (a third one also fell on the village) were sent back for analysis and for presentation to the OSCE and the UN.

The experience of war criminals and the horrible crimes committed by Ukraine in the Donbass, crimes which are also perfectly well known by the Red Cross, shows that all information is kept secret and will not be disclosed for reasons of the West's support for Ukraine in its deadly war in the Donbass.

It is high time that consciences awaken in France and throughout Europe since the scandal that is here is probably one of the biggest in recent decades. That is to say Western support to a country committing war crimes, political repression, political murders and using prohibited weapons against civilians not to mention the horrific abuses against the population as evidenced by too many accounts of the residents of Donbass.

Weapons
© Fort RussFrom the Zaitsevo school playground.
We are betting on it that our Italian colleagues have the courage to do their duty, and they have also questioned, in our presence, people tortured in Ukrainian jails and they hope the editors of the major Italian newspapers will not make a barricade of shame to hide the truth from the public.

The hope is slim. Meanwhile, civilians continue to die, be injured, or martyred. When will it be that when the French wake up from the absurd morbid fantasy of Russian aggression in the Donbass? When they all know the crimes committed by Ukraine, it will be sad to know that for months we have been shouting the truth aloud.

Note: the pile of projectiles on a photo in this reportage is the "harvest" of everything fired on this school over the last five days.

Translated from French by Tom Winter