The Center for Countering Disinformation at the NSDC analyzes the russian propaganda campaign accusing Ukraine of using prohibited ammunition.

In its report on the war with Ukraine of August 16, the rf Ministry of Defense claimed “direct violation of the Geneva Convention by the Kyiv regime and its Western sponsors”. Allegedly, russian military found French anti-tank mines in the newly occupied territories that cannot be neutralized. And this, according to the occupiers, violates the requirements of the Geneva Convention on the Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Indiscriminate Weapons.

Simultaneously with this statement, several young people picketed in front of the U.S. and British embassies in Moscow, where they opposed the use of PFM-1 “petal” mines by Ukraine. The “young guards” also complained to the UN about Ukraine’s violation of the rules of warfare.

The pro-putin youth believes that Ukraine violates the Geneva Convention, and the collective West remains silent in response. The media interpreted this as a warning that “the answer for the ‘petals’ is inevitable”. 

In the meantime, russian propagandists have been massively spreading reports of children and women killed and injured by anti-personnel mines in Donetsk. And the death in Donbas of a newly minted 25-year-old “war correspondent” from the rf National Bolshevik Party was also explained by “illegal mining”. Naturally, they promised “not to forget and not to forgive”.

The rashists started this information campaign at the end of July by shelling the TOT (temporarily occupied territories) with cluster munitions with “petal” mines from MLRS “Uragan” and “Smerch”. Since then, russian media have been filled with reports on PFM-1 and PFM-1S anti-personnel mines scattered in Donetsk and some other occupied cities.

And they immediately blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine if civilians are blown up in Donetsk. The russian army has repeatedly used prohibited weapons, in particular phosphorus bombs, in Donbas since 2014. And then it accused Ukraine of this without evidence.  

According to British intelligence, since the first days of the war, russia has systematically used anti-personnel mines to protect and deter free movement along its defensive lines in Donbas. These mines have the potential to cause significant damage and casualties among both military and local civilians.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, russia’s war crimes in Ukraine include human testing of new weapons, mostly prohibited by international conventions.

International humanitarian law stipulates several prohibitions on means and methods of warfare based on three criteria:

● indiscriminate action of means and methods – nuclear, chemical, biological weapons, cluster, thermobaric munitions;

● the likelihood of causing excessive injury or suffering – blinding laser weapons, incendiary munitions, booby traps, weapons with fragments which escape detection in the human body by X-ray;

 ● methods or means of warfare that may cause widespread, long-term and serious damage to the environment.

There are sufficient grounds to assert that russia systematically uses means and methods that are prohibited by all three of the above criteria in the war against Ukraine.

Thr rf’s use of more than 210 types of weapons prohibited by international treaties has been identified. These are mostly cluster munitions that will pose a significant danger to the civilian population for decades after the end of the war.

Cluster munition is a bomb cluster that opens in the air and scatters “submunitions” that explode on the ground, immediately or delayed in time. A certain percentage of them do not explode posing a long-term danger to people, especially civilians. Russia’s use of cluster munitions against civilians is a war crime aimed at demoralizing the civilian population. 

Russian pilots have also repeatedly used huge unguided high-explosive bombs to destroy civilian infrastructure. In addition, russia uses in Ukraine heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1A “Solntsepek”, that employ thermobaric missiles. When they explode, they create conditions within a range of 500 meters in which it is impossible to survive due to high temperature and pressure.

There are no international laws that would directly prohibit the use of destructive thermobaric weapons. However, if a country uses them to target civilians in populated areas, schools or hospitals, it can be convicted of a war crime under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

Another type of prohibited weapon used by the occupiers is a laser counter sniper system. It allows to withdraw Ukrainian snipers from the battle by burning the eye retina. 

There are thousands of evidences of the russian military’s use of booby traps and so-called surprise mines designed to kill both servicemen and civilians. In particular, the occupiers massively use PFM-1 anti-personnel “butterfly” mines, which pose a deadly threat to the civilian population.

Anti-personnel mines are prohibited by the Ottawa Convention, signed in December 1997, which entered into force in 1999. It obliges States Parties to never use anti-personnel mines under any circumstances. 

164 countries have joined the Convention, but russia, whose state policy is to violate the laws and customs of warfare (Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Ukraine), has not ratified the Convention. Ukraine acceded to the Convention in May 2005 and at that time possessed the fifth largest arsenal of anti-personnel mines in the world. As part of its obligations, Ukraine disposed of more than three million anti-personnel mines.

The rf has not ratified the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions either. Despite this, the use of cluster munitions is a gross violation by russia of customary norms of international humanitarian law and general prohibitions on indiscriminate weapons.

Thus, the terroristic bombing with the use of weapons prohibited by international conventions has been the invariable basis of russia’s military tactics and strategy since the Soviet times.

One of the persistent narratives of russian propaganda before the full-scale invasion was accusing Ukraine of terrorism and our defenders of war crimes against civilians.

From now on, they are trying to bring this narrative to the international level using media techniques to attract attention and create negative propaganda grounds to discredit Ukraine.

However, any reports that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting “against Ukrainian civilians” are a provocation to turn the local population against the Ukrainian military.

After all, everyone knows who shouts “stop the thief” the loudest.

Experts of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the NSDC of Ukraine are convinced that putin’s tribunal will definitely take place: https://telegra.ph/YAKIM-BUDE-TRIBUNAL-NAD-PUT%D0%86NIM-08-11. Therefore, Ukraine should document the use of prohibited weapons as much as possible in order to provide evidence of the rf’s war crimes for further international trials.