WASHINGTON, June 30. /TASS/. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has obtained new data indicating that the Ukrainian military has repeatedly used internationally banned Lepestok anti-personnel landmines, the human rights organization said in a report released on Friday.

Photos of 220 mm warheads for Uragan rockets, each capable of carrying 312 Lepestok mines (also known as "petal mines" or "butterfly mines"), which were made in eastern Ukraine, were instrumental in helping experts ascertain that the rockets had been purchased using the funds of a Ukrainian non-government organization, HRW reported.

The report also notes that HRW sent a formal inquiry on the matter to the Ukrainian government on May 28 but received no response.

In January 2023, the human rights organization published a report on the Ukrainian armed forces’ use of Lepestok landmines in Izyum, Kharkov Region, and environs between April and September 2022, which resulted in the deaths of 11 people.

PFM-1 Lepestok pressure-activated anti-personnel landmines are hard to detect due to their small size and camouflage coloring. When detonated, their explosion can cause serious injuries to and even kill people located nearby. Ukraine ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction in May 2005.