Ukrainian army maimed own civilians with banned mines – NGO

The Ukrainian military injured scores of civilians when it fired thousands of illegal mines across the city of Izium last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged. The mines, similar to those allegedly used by Ukraine against civilians in Donetsk, were found near schools and kindergartens.

The mines were fired into the city by rocket while it was occupied by Russian forces between April and September of last year, the NGO said in a report published on Tuesday. Dispersed hundreds at a time, the Soviet-era PFM mines are distinctively butterfly- or petal-shaped devices and are designed to main rather than kill those unfortunate enough to step on them or pick them up.