DONETSK, August 9. /TASS/. Cluster munitions account for over a half of the ammunition used by the Ukrainian army in the Zaporozhye area, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told the Solovyov Live TV channel.
"Now they are used in the Zaporozhye area, across the whole of it. If we take, say the Vremevsky bulge, directly the Vasilyevka area or Orekhov, already more than half of the shells that are fired, they are these cluster munitions," Rogov said.
He specified that Ukrainian units are firing cluster munitions not only at the line of contact, but also at population centers in the region.
When detonated in the air, cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over an area of dozens of square meters. If unexploded immediately, these bomblets pose a threat to civilians long after the end of any conflict. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. By now, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document, but have yet to ratify it. According to Human Rights Watch, the dud rate of cluster munitions is usually much higher than the declared level, which leads to civilian casualties.