Russia fires cluster missiles on apartments

“This is where an underground bunker of our apartment used to be. Russia’s missiles hit the bunker and 18 people who were hiding inside the bunker were killed.”

A resident surnamed Petro of a Ukrainian city located 54 kilometers north of Kyiv, said to a reporter on Saturday (local time), pointing to the site of a bombing in front of crumbled apartment buildings. The most intense battles took place in the city in March, right after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russian forces launched massive attacks on the place, which is the first gate to Kyiv. The small city with a 12,000 population became the ‘city of death.’

A large commercial building in the city had an empty spot in the middle as if a biscuit had crumbled down. Residents said the Russian military’s cluster bombs were dropped across the city on March 2. Cluster bombs are the weapons of mass destruction, which release hundreds of submunitions when the warhead explodes. They are banned by international laws. “The Russian force will attack our town again soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have other choices to attack Kyiv,” said Petro.

At least 290 civilians in Irpin, a city near Kyiv, were also killed after Russia’s invasion in March. Countless buildings were burnt and the streets were still filled with a burnt smell even three months later. An ob/gyn office in a residential area had numerous marks of bullets on its front door. Dolls and toys were scattered across the streets. “You should be careful as the Russian force’s landmines are buried across the city, including the yard of my own home,” said a resident surnamed Sennia.

There were tanks and armored vehicles across the capital and nearby regions abandoned by the Russian force as they retreated in April. “The ‘Russian devils’ may attack the capital and surrounding regions again in July,” residents said in an anxious voice.


Youn-Jong Kim zozo@donga.com