Cluster Munitions Target Civilians Again: Recalling the Unforgettable Day in 2022 in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv

The war isn't over. The black smoke that blanketed the sky over Kharkiv in February 2022, and the horror of the cluster munition strikes on residential areas in Mykolaiv, remain deep scars on Ukrainian soil even now in 2026. With Russian forces intensifying their offensives in eastern and southern Ukraine recently, the term 'cluster munitions' has once again become a hot-button issue for the international community. But what we must remember isn't just the name of a weapon, but the tragic stories of the civilians it has left in its wake.

A Taboo Ignored: The Horrors Defying the 'Convention on Cluster Munitions'

Cluster munitions are weapons designed to disperse hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area, striking simultaneously. Their destructive power is so immense that the Convention on Cluster Munitions has been signed by over 100 countries, completely banning their use, production, and transfer. However, the war in Ukraine has starkly revealed just how fragile such a taboo can be in reality. According to reports from the ground, early in 2022, Russian forces rained down cluster munitions indiscriminately on key Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.

The Cries of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv in February 2022

The cluster munition strikes on Kharkiv in February 2022, immediately after the invasion began, were truly a living hell. Falling on residential areas, schools, and hospitals without distinction, they turned places of safety into scenes of mass slaughter in an instant. Just a few months later, the same tragedy unfolded in the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv. Reports and footage emerging from the cluster munition strike in Mykolaiv at the time vividly depicted the massive casualties near parks and playgrounds. This inevitably drew sharp criticism, marking the attacks not as mere military conflict, but as clear war crimes targeting civilians.

A Curse Left in the Earth: The Time Bomb of 'Unexploded Submunitions' (Duds)

But the bigger problem is that the threat is still ongoing. The greatest danger of cluster munitions lies in the unexploded submunitions (duds). A significant number of the hundreds of submunitions released don't detonate on impact. They remain buried in fields and villages, unrecovered. It's as if millions of landmines have been scattered across the entire country. Reports indicate that even now, four years after the start of the war, accidents continue to be reported on the outskirts of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv where civilians—farming or collecting scrap metal—have triggered unexploded cluster munitions and lost their lives. The horrific accidents where children mistake them for toys serve as a grim reminder for everyone living there that the war's terror is not over.

What cluster munitions have left behind are ruined cities, lives that will never return, and unexploded ordnance that will threaten the land for decades to come. The brutality of war isn't just a story playing out on a screen far away. Right now, at this very moment, lives are being threatened by the fragments of cluster munitions fired back on that day in 2022.

• The brutality of cluster munitions: Indiscriminate area-wide destruction, undermining the principle of civilian protection.
• A threat to future generations: Long-term safety risks from unexploded duds, rendering farmland unusable.
• A lack of international response: Reigniting debate over the effectiveness of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Can we truly say the war is over? At least not yet, not until the skies and lands of Ukraine are completely safe. The cluster munitions from that day still remain on this land, continuing their silent slaughter.