Ukraine like Syria, Kharkiv like Aleppo. With the crazy devices of cluster bombs that kill, mutilate, destroy at random without distinguishing civilians from soldiers, children from adults, houses from barracks and finally impose surrender. A common horror, a unique direction. That of General Alexander Zhuravlyov, head of the Russian troops in Bashar al Assad’s Syria and then a reference figure of the 79th Russian missile artillery brigade based in Belgorod which only between 27 and 28 February hammered the second city of Ukraine with 11 Smerch 300mm missile attacks, each capable of delivering 72 explosive devices over an area the size of a football field.
East Aleppo, destroyed, fell under his blows. And for this Zhuravlyov, 57, was awarded the title of ‘Hero of the Russian Federation’, the highest honor in the country. “clean up” Kharkiv.
With a timely and accurate field investigation, CNN has reconstructed the attacks of those last days of February, when suddenly the city was hit by a rain of those bombs prohibited by the 2010 Cluster Munitions Convention. satellite has been reconstructed the trajectory of the Smerch departed from the border line on which Belgorod is located. Weapons for the use of which a very high clearance is required. That of Zhuravlyov, in fact. “And based on the Geneva Convention command accountability standard, the general (Zhuravlyov) is as guilty as anyone else in his chain of command” of war crimes, assessed Philip Wasielewski, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Ukrainian officials collected large quantities of exploded and unexploded ordnance at a site visited by CNN. “There is a lot of cluster munitions being used on a scale that is probably larger than what we saw in southern Lebanon in 2006,” commented Mark Hiznay, associate director of arms for Human Rights Watch, referring to the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel. during which the Israeli army launched about 4 million such ammunition. For his role in Syria and for the methods with which he operated Zhuravlyov was rewarded by Vladimir Putin and received the indifferent silence of the international community. Aleppo fell. But in Kharkiv, conquered by the Russians and taken back by the Ukrainians, the general did not achieve the same success. Putin will not give him another honor.
Source: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
