Cruel weapons in Bucha: civilians apparently killed with metal arrows
Created: 04/25/2022, 14:17
By: Max Mueller
Freshly dug graves in Bucha: "Thin, nail-like objects in the bodies".
© Miguel Gutierrez/Imago
In Ukraine, Russia is said to have killed with particularly cruel metal arrows, which had been decommissioned since the First World War.
Bucha - The bad news from the Ukraine conflict does not stop.
Dozens of people have apparently been killed by tiny metal arrows from grenades in Bucha.
This is suggested by research by the
Washington Post
and
Guardian
.
Accordingly, Russian forces used so-called "flechette artillery" in Bucha, a small town in northern Ukraine.
According to the reports, numerous civilians have become victims of this archaic type of weapon.
Ukraine conflict: Metal arrows cause serious injuries
The "flechette artillery" was already used in the First World War and is considered particularly cruel.
A single artillery shell can contain up to 8000 of the Small Flechette Arrows.
During the explosion, the many small arrows are released and then spread over an area up to 300 meters wide and 100 meters long.
When the arrows hit a human, they break in two, causing two wounds at once.
The result: severe and almost unpredictable injuries.
In its report, the
Guardian
refers, among other things, to the statements of pathologists who autopsied the victims from mass graves north of Kiev.
"We found several really thin, nail-like objects in the bodies of men and women and others of my colleagues in the region," Ukrainian coroner Vladyslav Pirovskyi is quoted as saying.
"The majority of these bodies come from the Bucha-Irpin region." According to the report, several independent weapons experts have checked the images of the ammunition.
Human rights organizations want to ban metal arrows
In contrast to cluster bombs and cluster munitions, the use of flechette is not prohibited per se under international law.
But human rights groups have long been trying to ban the weapon.
It largely disappeared from World War I use until it was used by the US in the Vietnam War, the
Guardian
writes .
Amnesty International also accuses Israel of using the munitions in the Gaza Strip in 2009.
After the Russian withdrawal, dozens of dead civilians were found in Bucha, some of them tied up and shot in the head.
Pictures document the extent of the horrific war crimes.
Human Rights Watch denounced the alleged rape, mass shooting, looting, and excessive use of force by Russian military personnel.
(Max Mueller)