Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of firing phosphorous shells at the small town of Marinka in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.
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“The Russians used phosphorous shells again today in Marinka” (ten thousand residents before the start of the Russian invasion on February 24), the head of the Military Administration of the Donetsk region, Pavel Kirienko
“Dozens of fires (caused by these shells, editor’s note) have been identified and controlled by National Emergency Service elements,” he continued.
Phosphorous weapons are incendiary weapons that are prohibited from being used against civilians, but not against military targets, by an agreement signed in 1980 in Geneva.
Russia on March 25 denied any violation of international law after Ukraine repeatedly accused it of using such munitions in the context of its attack.
“The cities of Georgievka, Novokalinovo and Ocheretino were bombed,” Mr. Kirilenko added, without giving details of the munitions used. “No civilian casualties should be regretted,” he concluded, “but many homes were damaged.”
A Russian air raid was also carried out on the village of Slobogansky, in the north-east, which caused the death of a woman and her 11-year-old son, announced the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The head of the region’s military administration, Valentin Reznichenko, said that missiles were fired at a factory in Novomoskovsk and an oil depot in Dnipro in the east, causing no casualties.
