UN Says Alleged Use of Banned Landmines by Ukraine Should Be Investigated

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The United Nations would support an investigation into allegations of Ukraine using anti-personnel landmines in its eastern Kharkiv region, spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Tuesday.

"It's clear that when there's any chance that armaments are being used that cause such casualties, this should be fully investigated. And so we would encourage that to happen," Haq told a briefing.

Earlier in the day, Human Rights Watch urged Ukraine to investigate "its military’s apparent use of thousands of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines" in and around the eastern city of Izium when Russian forces controlled the area. The international rights group said that nearly 50 civilians have been injured.

Ukraine is a signatory to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty and stated that it has gotten rid of much of its Soviet stocks. In 2021, Ukraine said that about 3.3 million PFM mines, so called "petals" or "butterflies," were yet to be destroyed.

Earlier in January, Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) said that a group of Ukrainian officials will be taking a week-long training course on demining in Cambodia. The Southeast Asian country offered to share its experience with Ukraine to help it reduce civilian casualties from unexploded ordnance.

Cambodia sent mine cleaning experts to Ukraine in December after Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for help on the sidelines of the leaders’ summit in Phnom Penh in November.