The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) is calling for strong measures in response to Russia’s deliberate and systematic use of cluster munitions against Ukraine.
That is according to the statement by Ukraine’s foreign ministry, as reported by Ukrinform.
The MFA draws the attention of the international community to Russia’s large-scale, deliberate, targeted, and systematic use of cluster munitions during its aggression against Ukraine.
“Ukrainian competent authorities have already documented at least 5,974 cases of Russia’s use of such munitions,” the statement reads.
Russian forces regularly launch missile and bomb attacks against Ukraine’s Defense Forces and civilians using Smerch, Grad, Uragan, and Tochka-U multiple launch rocket systems, as well as air-dropped bombs equipped with cluster submunitions containing elements like 9N210, 9N235, KOBE 3B-30, Q-16, KE 136V3, M42, SHOAB-0.5, among others.
The MFA highlights particularly heinous attacks: the killing of 22 and injury of 31 people in Chernihiv on March 17, 2022, following an MLRS Uragan strike; the attack on Kramatorsk on April 8, 2022, with a Tochka-U cluster missile that hit the railway station during the evacuation of civilians, resulting in 54 killed and 135 wounded; the missile strike on Kyiv on June 17, 2025, with a Kh-69 missile, after which 29 objects resembling cluster submunitions were discovered.
The MFA emphasizes that this is far from a complete list of Ukrainian cities where Russia has used cluster munitions. Attacks in Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Chuhuiv, Dobropillia, Okhtyrka, Zatoka, and throughout Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions have caused numerous civilian casualties, including children, and widespread destruction of residential, medical, educational, and critical infrastructure.
“Russian perpetrators deliberately and systematically use cluster munitions to maximize civilian casualties and destruction. This is an element of Moscow’s broader policy of terror against the Ukrainian people. The international community must also recognize that Russia is training its accomplices — Iran and North Korea — in these criminal methods of warfare,” the ministry stressed.
The MFA asserts that Russia’s actions blatantly violate fundamental norms of international humanitarian law, and warns that war crimes and crimes against humanity are not subject to a statute of limitations. Ukrainian authorities are documenting these atrocities and opening criminal proceedings to ensure those responsible are held accountable.
Ukraine calls on states and international organizations to deliver a resolute and forceful response to these Russian crimes in a manner that reflects their unprecedented scale and cruelty. Kyiv urges the partners to impose new, crippling sanctions on the Russian economy and industry, particularly its defense sector, energy revenues, banking system, and all individuals and legal entities that directly or indirectly facilitate the armed aggression against Ukraine.
The MFA also calls on allies to increase deliveries of all types of air defense systems and related munitions, as well as to boost Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities and invest in domestic production.
“This will allow us to protect lives and save civilians,” the ministry states. “Such strong and resolute steps are critically necessary to advance a just and lasting peace.”
As previously reported by Ukrinform, after a combined Russian strike on Kyiv on June 17, cluster submunitions were found in the Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts, deployed in Russian missiles to maximize harm to people, infrastructure, and equipment.
Source: Nearly 6,000 cases of Russia’s use of cluster munitions documented in Ukraine – MFA
