Morning briefing in Ukraine: Cluster bombing “kills hundreds of civilians” in Kharkov

Russia has been accused of war crimes in Ukraine, and Amnesty International claims that hundreds of civilians have died in the city of Kharkov as a result of attacks with banned cluster bombs.

In a report entitled Anyone Can Die Anytime, the human rights organization said it had found evidence that Russian forces had repeatedly used the 9N210 and 9N235 cluster bombs and Kharkov’s landmines, all of which are banned under international conventions.

Cluster bombs are released into dozens of bombs or submunitions in the air, posing a direct threat to civilians as they indiscriminately disperse over hundreds of square meters.

“Repeated bombings of residential neighborhoods in Kharkov are indiscriminate attacks in which hundreds of civilians have been killed and wounded and as such represent war crimes,” Amnesty wrote in a report Monday.

“The continued use of such inaccurate explosive weapons in populated civilian areas, recognizing that it repeatedly causes large numbers of civilian casualties, may even mean targeting attacks on civilians.”

According to the Kharkiv military administration, 606 civilians have been killed and 1,248 wounded since the invasion began.

Here’s what happened overnight – and you can follow the latest updates on our live blog.

1. The world’s nuclear arsenal is expected to increase for the first time since the Cold War

The world’s nuclear arsenal is expected to increase in the coming years for the first time since the Cold War, while the risk of using such weapons is greatest in decades, the leading think tank for conflict and armaments said Monday.

Russian invasion of Ukraine and Western support for Kiev increased tensions between the world’s nine nuclear-armed statessaid the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in a new series of studies.

While the number of nuclear weapons declined slightly between January 2021 and January 2022, SIPRI said global warhead stocks could soon begin to grow for the first time in decades if nuclear forces do not act immediately.

“All nuclear-armed nations are increasing or upgrading their arsenals, and most are sharpening their nuclear rhetoric and the role that nuclear weapons play in their military strategies,” said Wilfred Wan, director of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program. Year 2022

2. A Ukrainian official calls a slain British soldier a “true hero”

A former British soldier was killed in the fight for Ukraine in Severodonetsk, his family said on social media, and a senior Ukrainian official praised him as a “true hero”.

Jordan Gatley left the British Army in March, his family said, and went to Ukraine to help fight the Russian invasion.

The family said they received it on Friday the news that he had been shot.

The eastern city is the epicenter of intense conflict over control of Donbass in the country.

“He loved his work and we are so proud of him,” his family wrote in a Facebook post. “He really was a hero and will stay in our hearts forever.”