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Moscow Demands Immediate UN Probe Into Use Of Incendiary Bombs in Ukraine

Semenovka_Incindiary-bombs_Ukraine_1-300x204

nsnbc | June 12, 2014

Moscow is demanding an immediate UN probe into Kiev’s use of outlawed incendiary bombs in Ukraine’s rebelling southeastern regions. Moscow will present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, urging the observation of the OSCE roadmap for Ukraine.

The calls come after yesterday’s use of banned incendiary bombs in the village of Semenovka near the Ukraine’s eastern city of Slavyansk. Eyewitnesses to the bombings reported the use of white phosphor bombs on Wednesday night. The Russian RIA Novosty quotes the local self-defense headquarters on Thursday, saying that Semenkova came under an attack that apparently involved fire bombs. The bombs exploded right above the village and split into smoldering fragments, reported eyewitnesses.

The use of phosphor bombs is internationally banned. The burning substance can’t be extinguished and burns through flesh and bones if a person has been hit by the substance. The Itar-Tass news agency quotes Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying:

“We have ordered to our Ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin to present to the Security Council a draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine, as we are very concerned by the lack of any progress in the efforts to stop the violence, to stop the war, beginning from the end of the punitive operation”.

“In this resolution we have focused on the fact it is necessary to insist the Ukrainian side began implementing the OSCE roadmap, based on the Geneva statement of April 17, and which was presented after the talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, … It is a very important moment, as, we see, there are clear attempts to distance from the balanced and fair character of the approaches in the roadmap, and there are attempts to promote certain unilateral plans, which would ignore interests of Ukraine’s southeast.”

Lavrov stressed that only an equal-rights dialog, a complete consideration of interests of all of Ukraine’s regions without exceptions, and a dialog that also includes discussions about constitutional reform, may result in stability and an improvement of the situation in Ukraine.

The draft resolution expresses Russia’s concerns about the continuing violence and the killing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure, residential areas, as well as attacks against convoys. Lavrov added that Russia does not speak about sending peace keepers and that Moscow still believes President Poroshenko has credibility.

Moscow does, however, demand an immediate and full investigation into the use of incendiary bombs and other prohibited weapons in Ukraine. Lavrov stressed “We are concerned to hear reports that the Ukrainian military forces use incendiary bombs and some other indiscriminate weapons. These reports should be investigated, immediately”.

June 12, 2014 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Shells hit school, kindergarten in Slavyansk amid Ukraine military op

RT | May 28, 2014

A school and a kindergarten have been shelled in Slavyansk as the city becomes increasingly unsafe in the intensified Kiev military campaign. At least 9 civilians were injured in Wednesday’s shelling incidents, including a child.

Ukrainian mortar shells have for weeks been raining down on the checkpoints and positions of the Slavyansk self-defense, but much of the shelling occurred outside the city. Italian journalist Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter, veteran human rights activist Andrey Mironov, were almost “torn to pieces” in one such shelling.

However, this week the battleground apparently moved right into civilian quarters of Slavyansk, as shells started hitting residential blocks and nearby buildings, killing three people on Monday.

On Wednesday, there was a shocking reminder of how the situation might unfold if the new president-elect Petro Poroshenko pushes on with the military operation in the region, as shells struck the city’s streets, yards, a school and a kindergarten.

RT talked to a male schoolteacher from Slavyansk school number 13, who asked not to be named.

“Around midday there was a loud explosion in the school, and I fell to the floor, taking cover,” the teacher told RT over the phone.

The man said that he rushed to the corridor to assemble all the teachers and children in the school and take them to a safe place. Clouds of dust were billowing on one side of the building.

According to the teacher, it turned out that the shell exploded right above the school hall, where children are usually gathered for festive events, and part of the roof “was simply blown away.”

Luckily, no children were in the hall at the time. All the pupils and teachers were quickly evacuated to the basement.

It was not immediately clear, if there were any casualties in the kindergarten or other places shelled in Slavyansk, but the Rossiya-24 channel reported that 9 people were injured in total, including a 4-year-old boy. The channel’s crew narrowly escaped a direct hit by a mortar shell, as it fell “literally next to our car.”

Photos of the sites of Wednesday’s mortar attacks emerged on social media, showing partially destroyed buildings, craters in the roads, and what appeared to be blood.

The Kiev forces quickly laid the blame on self-defense units, which they refer to as “terrorists.”

“Currently, we are confirming the information on the terrorists’ shelling of the residential quarters and the territory of the school in Slavyansk,” the commander of Kiev’s military operation in southeastern Ukraine, Vladislav Seleznyov, wrote on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, several funerals of those killed in Monday’s shelling were held in Slavyansk on Wednesday. According to the latest reports, four people have died from shrapnel wounds since then.

The shelling damaged a block of flats and a dormitory in the city’s teachers’ college, shattering glass in the windows of the college. Power lines and, reportedly, a city water pipeline were damaged and disrupted by the blasts.

Video Report

May 28, 2014 Posted by | War Crimes | , , | 1 Comment