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Human Rights Watch documented Russia’s use of antipersonnel landmines before.
Will Russia become a pariah state?
Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin’s forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
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Human Rights Watch is calling on Ukraine to investigate its military’s “apparent use of thousands of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines in and around the eastern city of Izium where Russian forces occupied the area.”
The international non-governmental organization issued a press release on Monday saying it has “documented numerous cases in which rockets carrying PFM antipersonnel mines, also called ‘butterfly mines’ or ‘petal mines,’ were fired into Russian-occupied areas near Russian military facilities.” Ukraine is a state party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits any use of antipersonnel mines.
Human Rights Watch said it has previously documented Russian forces’ use of antipersonnel landmines in Ukraine in 2022.
“Ukrainian forces appear to have extensively scattered landmines around the Izium area, causing civilian casualties and posing an ongoing risk,” Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Russian forces have repeatedly used antipersonnel mines and committed atrocities across the country, but this doesn’t justify Ukrainian use of these prohibited weapons.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the Russian shelling of Kherson in his evening address Sunday, saying there are “reports of six wounded and three dead” from the recent shelling.
“Today, the Russian army has been shelling Kherson atrociously all day. Residential buildings, various social and transport facilities, including a hospital, post office and bus station, have been damaged,” Zelenskyy said. “Two women, nurses, were wounded in the hospital. As of now, there are reports of six wounded and three dead.”
Zelenskyy spoke with the president-elect of the Czech Republic Sunday and invited him to come to Ukraine, he said.
Zelenskyy also noted the progress that was made last week in getting NATO members and allied countries to commit to sending more weapons to Ukraine, but added, “We have to make the next week no less powerful for our defense.”
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Eleven people died and 11 others were injured in Russian missile strikes throughout 11 regions of Ukraine on Thursday, according to Ukrainian emergency services.
Two fires broke out and 35 buildings were damaged in the strike.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against a number of individuals and entities associated with the Wager Group in Russia and across the world in an effort to “degrade the Russian Federation’s capacity to wage war against Ukraine,” the department said in a statement.
The U.S. designated Russia’s Wagner Group a “transnational criminal organization,” not just for the alleged atrocities it has committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also for its alleged human rights abuses in African countries like the Central African Republic.
The U.S. believes the Wagner Group has 50,000 people fighting in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts, according to the White House. The group’s leader is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who was already facing several U.S. sanctions.
Last week, the White House first announced the U.S. would take this step.