© REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoMine work: deadly "Petals" are neutralized in Donetsk
UKRAINIAN forces were accused of shelling residential areas of the eastern city of Donetsk on Saturday night with hundreds of so-called petal mines littering the streets in the aftermath.
The tiny bombs, which are shaped like small flowers, were found in the centre of Donetsk,
areas close to the city's university, recreational areas and others.
Journalist Eva Bartlett, based in Ukraine, heard the shelling start on Saturday night.
"This morning I saw these mines in a heavily populated western Donetsk district," she said.
"They tear off limbs but don't necessarily kill. Nasty war crimes to add to the list of Ukraine's manifold war crimes."
Local authorities issued a warning to residents asking them to "watch your step carefully, walk only on asphalt" and to call emergency services if they spot one of the deadly mines.
Civilians were advised to only walk on open routes and to avoid shortcuts after the latest attack as the mines are difficult to spot in grass or other areas.
The Lepestok cluster mines are banned under international humanitarian law and their use is deemed a war crime under the Geneva Convention.They were widely used in Afghanistan where children often mistook them for toys, and were seriously injured or killed after handling them.
On Saturday, Donetsk authorities said that
a large number of the petal mines were found by a school in the city's Kirov district.
The overnight shelling occured shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered troops and civilians to urgently evacuate from Donetsk.Transport networks were suspended across the city today as clear-up operations were under way.
Comment: Investigative reporter Eva K Bartlett reports on the story in the videos below.
Warning:Video features gruesome imagery of the injuries recently inflicted by the mines and so viewer discretion is advised.
The use of PFM-1 'butterfly' mines against civilians is prohibited by the Geneva conventions - but this evidently isn't stopping Ukraine Saturday night, just after 9 pm, thunderous explosions rocked central Donetsk. Shortly after, there were announcements that air defense had shot down Ukrainian-fired missiles containing "Butterfly" (or "Petal") mines. Given that over 300 of these mines are packed into each of the Ukrainian-fired rockets, central Donetsk would literally be a minefield. While Ukraine has been using these mines on the Donbass for many months, in recent days they have intensely bombarded Gorlovka and Donetsk neighbourhoods with them.
Initially targeted were the hard-hit districts of Kievskiy in the north, Kirovsky in the southwest, and Kuibyshevkiy in the west. But as of Saturday night, Ukraine hammered central Donetsk with them. And now, walking in the city centre is a nightmare, one I had to endure to document how widespread these mines are here: in central streets and walkways, near apartments, in parks...
On July 30, in a densely inhabited working-class district of western Donetsk, in a field with garden plots for nearby apartment residents, I saw the nefarious "petal" or "butterfly" mines which Ukraine the following day dropped on the central of Donetsk. In the large courtyard of an apartment complex, I watched from a safe distance as Emergency Services timer-detonated eight mines they had found around the grounds. The day prior, they destroyed 26. Another 150 were located and destroyed using a radio-controlled minesweeper. But there remains much work to restore the streets and courtyards to safety. Some types of these anti-personnel mines have a self-destruct timer. Others, including the ones Ukraine is firing, have a years-long shelf life. They do pretty much no damage to military vehicles, and as such their use in Donbass is insidious - deliberately targeting civilians, to leave them maimed. Out of the 6 million such mines Ukraine initially declared in its possession, only 2 million have been reportedly destroyed as of 2018.
Comment: Investigative reporter Eva K Bartlett reports on the story in the videos below.
Warning:Video features gruesome imagery of the injuries recently inflicted by the mines and so viewer discretion is advised.