UNITED NATIONS, March 17. /TASS/. Russia disseminated a letter and materials about the March 14 Ukrainian tactical missile strike on Donetsk in UN General Assembly and Security Council, the Russian mission to the UN said in its statement Wednesday.
"At about 11.30 a.m. Moscow time Tochka-U tactical missile with a cluster warhead was fired at a residential block in the center of the city from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime," the letter says. "This assault led to the killing of more than 20 civilians while 37, including children, women and elderly people, were injured and taken to medical institutions."
This attack is viewed as Kiev’s violation of the "very basic rule of international humanitarian law as enshrined in Article 48 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) of 8 June 1977," the letter says. International humanitarian law " is clear in determining what attacks can be considered disproportionate: under para 5 (b) of Article 51 of the Protocol these are attacks "which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated."
"There were, however, no military objectives whatsoever in above-mentioned residential block in Donetsk, so there could be no "military advantage anticipated" for the Ukrainian armed forces from this barbaric act," the Russian mission stressed. "This circumstance alongside with the choice of time for attack (at noon) and location (the widely populated center of the city), as well as the weapon - tactical missile with a cluster munitions warhead - clearly point to that fact that the main objective was civilian population and the goal was to cause as much damage among civilians as possible."
According to the Russian mission, this attack staged by the Ukrainian army "represents not only serious violation of international humanitarian law, but amounts to act of terror and a war crime against civilian population."
"Given the proven record of the Kiev regime promoting false allegations and fake evidence, it should be noted that Tochka-U tactical missiles are not in service in the Russian Armed Forces," the document emphasizes.