A sapper of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine combs the ground in search of unexploded ordnance and mines. Ukraine has the largest number of victims of cluster munitions in the world Peace and Security
Ukraine has recorded the highest number of victims of cluster munitions in the world for the second year in a row: more than a thousand people have been killed and injured as a result of the use of this type of weapon since the full-scale Russian invasion, according to a report published on Monday by the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Civilians accounted for 93 percent of all global cluster munition casualties in 2023, according to a 100-page document prepared by a civil society group that conducted research in more than 100 countries. Cluster bombs continue to kill thousands of civilians, mostly children, and the growing use of this largely banned class of weapons is threatening efforts to ban them universally.
“The actions of countries that have not banned cluster munitions put civilians at risk and threaten the integrity and universality of the international treaty banning these deadly weapons,” said Tamar Gabelnik, Director of the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Children are the most affected
Children accounted for almost half of all cluster munition casualties in 2023. The weapons also had a direct destructive impact on civilian objects, including schools and hospitals, the report says.
“It is essential that all countries join the Convention on Cluster Munitions and help achieve its core objective of ending the suffering and loss of life caused by cluster munitions,” said Tamar Gabelnik.
The Number of Manufacturers Is Growing
To date, 112 countries have joined the ban on the use of cluster munitions, the latest being South Sudan.
Since the convention’s adoption in May 2008, there have been no reports of new use of cluster munitions by any state party to the treaty. However, in Ukraine in 2023, both Russian and Ukrainian forces used them.
Since 2023, the number of cluster munition manufacturers has increased to 17. They are manufactured in Myanmar, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, Greece, Egypt, Israel, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Romania, Singapore, Turkey, and the United States. None of these countries are parties to the global treaty.
A Deadly Legacy
Like landmines, cluster munitions leave behind a deadly legacy that poses a danger long after hostilities have ended, as many of the cluster bombs do not explode on the first impact. According to the authors of the report, a total of 28 countries, including 10 states parties to the convention, are contaminated with cluster munitions.
In Ukraine, more agricultural land is contaminated with cluster munition remnants than with anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines combined.
In war-torn Gaza, which has been subjected to daily bombing by Israeli forces for almost a year, clearing unexploded ordnance will take years and cost millions of dollars.