Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 15, 2025 Peace and security
Ukraine has been ranked first in the world in terms of the number of annual victims of cluster munitions for the third year in a row. Since February 2022, more than 1,200 deaths caused by the use of this type of weapon have been registered in the country. This is stated in the report of the Coalition Against Cluster Munitions, which was presented on Monday by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
According to the data provided in the report, in 2024, 314 cases of death or injury as a result of the use of cluster munitions were recorded worldwide. The real number is likely to be significantly higher, as many cases are not documented. In Ukraine alone, about 40 attacks using cluster munitions were recorded in 2024, while the exact number of casualties is unknown.
Cluster munition fatalities were reported in nine countries last year: Afghanistan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Mauritania, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. All of these countries, except Myanmar, also reported new casualties from cluster munition remnants in 2024.
Victims of direct cluster munition attacks have been recorded in three countries – Myanmar, Syria and Ukraine. All of these states are not parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Of the total number of recorded casualties in 2024, 257 were directly affected by attacks and 57 by cluster munition remnants.
Deadly weapon
Launched from the ground or from aircraft, cluster munitions explode in the air, dispersing small explosive devices over a wide area. Victims suffer serious injuries from blasts and burns, and unexploded bombs often remain on the battlefield long after the conflict has ended.
Cluster munitions and their remnants continue to disproportionately affect civilians. All recorded casualties in 2024 were civilians. Children accounted for 42 percent of all recorded casualties.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the 2008 Convention banning cluster munitions, which currently includes 112 countries.
“Earlier this year, Lithuania became the first state to withdraw from the Convention on Conventional Cluster Munitions,” said Orsin Hoffman, a senior researcher at UNIDIR. “Fortunately, no other state withdrew, but since then four other northern and eastern European states have announced their intention to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty – Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Poland.”
Reports of Ukraine using cluster bombs
Ukraine reportedly began using U.S.-supplied 155mm artillery shells within weeks of announcing their receipt in July 2023, the report says. Social media posts show purported Russian soldiers holding what appear to be unexploded cluster munitions. Media coverage of Ukrainian artillery units in combat confirms the use of shells with markings indicating U.S. production in the 1980s and 1990s.
Since March 2022, Russian authorities have repeatedly reported on Ukraine's use of cluster munitions in the occupied territories, primarily in the Donetsk region, but so far these reports have not been accompanied by confirmed facts.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that while not all incidents could be verified, in a number of cases the imagery examined was consistent with the use of cluster munitions. One such incident occurred on 31 January 2025, when at least six civilians in Horlivka, Donetsk region, were reportedly injured by cluster munitions.
The report cites allegations that Ukraine has used ATACMS ballistic missiles with cluster warheads to strike targets inside Russia and in areas under Russian control, but there is no official confirmation of these claims. The Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on their Telegram channel that allegedly showed the use of cluster munitions in the Kursk region of Russia in August 2024. In September 2024, a Russian serviceman posted an image on Telegram of an unexploded ATACMS missile and its warhead with cluster submunitions, but did not indicate the exact location where the remains were found.
Russian officials and state media claim that Ukrainian forces are using cluster munitions on Russian territory. From August 2024 to July 2025, there were at least 25 reports of alleged cluster munition attacks from Ukraine.
Reports of Russian use of cluster bombs
Russia continued to strike civilians in densely populated urban areas of Ukraine with cluster munitions in the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, according to local authorities, media reports and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the report says.
“Russia has used cluster munitions extensively since the beginning of the conflict,” said Orsin Hoffman. “Russia first recorded use of cluster munitions in February 2024, and continues to strike civilian areas and residential buildings. The strikes recorded during the reporting period have killed dozens of civilians and injured hundreds.”
In 2025, submunitions with Korean markings were found in Ukrainian-controlled territory, but the report's authors note that it is unclear whether they were used by North Korean forces participating in joint military operations with Russia, or whether they were part of cluster munitions acquired by Russia from North Korea and used by Russian forces.
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