Stop Use of Grads in Populated Areas
(Donetsk) – Unguided Grad rockets launched apparently by Ukrainian
government forces and pro-government militias have killed at least 16
civilians and wounded many more in insurgent-controlled areas of Donetsk
and its suburbs in at least four attacks between July 12 and 21, 2014,
Human Rights Watch said today.
The use of indiscriminate rockets in populated areas violates
international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, and may amount to
war crimes.
Grads are unguided rockets that cannot be targeted accurately, and are
often fired in salvos from multi-barrel rocket launchers to saturate a
wide area. Human Rights Watch called on all parties to the conflict in
eastern Ukraine, particularly Ukrainian government forces, to stop using
Grad rockets in or near populated areas because of the likelihood of
killing and wounding civilians. Insurgent forces should minimize the
risk to civilians under their control by avoiding deploying forces and
weapons in densely populated areas.
“Grad rockets are notoriously imprecise weapons that shouldn’t be used in populated areas,” said Ole Solvang,
senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “If insurgent and
Ukrainian government forces are serious about limiting harm to
civilians, they should both immediately stop using these weapons in
populated areas.”
Anti-Kiev insurgent forces started asserting control over Donetsk, a
city in eastern Ukraine with a population of almost one million, in
April. Because of security concerns, Human Rights Watch was unable to
determine first-hand the impact of the Grad attacks on insurgent forces
and installations.
Both Ukrainian government and insurgent forces have recently used Grad
rockets. Although Ukrainian government officials and the press service
of the National Guard have denied using Grad rockets in Donetsk, a Human
Rights Watch investigation on the ground strongly indicates that
Ukrainian government forces were responsible for the attacks that
occurred between July 12 and 21.
The four attacks took place close to the front line between insurgent
and government forces. Impact craters on the ground and on buildings
investigated by Human Rights Watch were characteristic of rocket
attacks, not shelling. In all four cases, the angle and shape of the
craters, and the fact that they were on the side of buildings facing the
front line, strongly suggests that the rockets came from the direction
of Ukrainian government forces or pro-Kiev armed groups. The attacks’
proximity to the front line also makes it unlikely, and in some cases
impossible, that insurgent forces were responsible for the attacks. In
two of the attacks, rockets hit on or near insurgent bases and
checkpoints at the same time as they hit residential areas, indicating
government forces were responsible.
In the July 21 attack, three civilians died when Grad rockets hit a
residential area near the Donetsk train station. Ongoing fighting made
it difficult for Human Rights Watch to determine whether there were
additional casualties, but what could be identified as Grad rockets by
their distinctive sound could be heard throughout the day.
On July 19, at least five rockets struck a residential area in the
Kuibyshivskyi district in western Donetsk, injuring at least four
civilians.
Human Rights Watch documented multiple rocket impacts on July 12 on a
residential area in the Petrovskyi district on the western outskirts of
Donetsk that killed at least seven civilians.
Also on July 12, multiple rockets struck a residential area in Maryinka,
a village just outside of Donetsk, close to the Petrovskyi district,
killing at least six civilians.
Human Rights Watch was able to identify the rockets fired as unguided
122-millimeter surface-to-surface Grad artillery rockets launched from
multi-barrel rocket launchers with up to 40 launch tubes. Most Grad
rockets have a range of 1.5 to 20 kilometers. The rockets vary in length
from 1.9 to 3.3 meters and weigh 45 to 75 kilograms.
Grad rockets use various types of warheads. The most common is a high
explosive/fragmentation type, which contains approximately 6.4 kilograms
of high explosives and is designed to produce 3,150 fragments, which
can kill or injure within a radius of 28 meters. At its maximum range of
some 20 kilometers, the most common rocket (9M22U) with the basic high
explosive/fragmentation (M-21-OF) warhead is only accurate within a
rectangle of 336 meters by 160 meters. In other words, from its aim
point, the rocket could land anywhere within a rectangle of
approximately 54,000 square meters.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine is governed by the laws of war,
which apply to all parties to the conflict. Grad rockets cannot be
targeted with sufficient precision to differentiate military targets,
which may be attacked, from civilians and civilian structures, such as
homes and schools not being used for military purposes, which are immune
from attack. As such, their use in populated areas violates the
laws-of-war prohibition against indiscriminate attacks. In addition,
attacks not directed at valid military targets are also unlawfully
indiscriminate.
Human Rights Watch said that insurgent forces have failed to take all
feasible precautions to avoid deploying in densely populated areas,
thereby endangering civilians in violation of the laws of war. In one
case, separatist forces moved their base closer to the center of the
town when Grad rockets struck their base and a nearby residential area.
Violations of the laws of war by one side to the conflict do not justify
violations by the other side.
Individuals who commit serious violations of the laws of war with
criminal intent, that is intentionally or recklessly, are responsible
for war crimes.
“Ukrainian authorities should order all their forces, including
volunteer forces, to immediately stop using Grads in or near populated
areas, and insurgent forces should avoid deploying in densely populated
areas,” Solvang said. “Commanding officers on all sides should recognize
that one day they could face legal consequences for their actions.”
Human Rights Watch called on Ukraine’s international supporters to urge
the Ukrainian government to strictly adhere to international
humanitarian law, including by ending all use of Grad rockets in
populated areas.
For additional details about the attacks, please see below.
Attacks Near the Train Station, July 21
On July 21, Ukrainian government forces stationed on the northwest edge
of Donetsk began a military offensive against insurgent forces in the
area around and north of the train station. Because of contradictory
statements by Ukrainian authorities, it was not immediately clear
whether the offensive was conducted by government forces or pro-Kiev
volunteer forces operating on their own.
Media reports
quoted a spokesman for Ukraine’s military stating that the fighting
around the train station was “a planned offensive ... to push rebels
away from the airport,” but that “[a]viation and artillery are not
aiming at civilian residences. Their only aim is to block the terrorists
and fighters.” In a separate media report, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman
for Ukraine’s National Security Council, denied that government forces were involved in any fighting, but claimed that a small self-organized group of pro-Kiev forces were fighting insurgents.
Information collected by Human Rights Watch indicates that the Grad rockets killed at least three civilians during the attack.
Local residents told Human Rights Watch that several rockets had struck
their neighborhood, just south of the train station, at about 10:30 a.m.
They said one of the rockets struck the courtyard of an apartment
complex, killing one woman and wounding a man. The woman did not live in
the apartment complex so the neighbors did not know her name.
A Human Rights Watch visit to the site found an impact crater with blood
next to it in the middle of the courtyard. There was also blood on the
steps leading up to one of the nearby buildings. Neighbors said shrapnel
from the same rocket had injured a man there and that he then tried to
drag himself up the steps and into the building.
While the area is generally under insurgent control, as is most of
Donetsk, local residents told Human Rights Watch that no insurgent
forces or weapons had been in the area at the time of the attack.
Foreign journalists told Human Rights Watch that a second rocket killed
two men near a school about 100 meters away from the rocket that killed
the woman. A security expert working with the New York Times provided
Human Rights Watch with the GPS coordinates of the strike that killed
the two men and another strike in the immediate vicinity.
The security expert also provided Human Rights Watch with GPS
coordinates for three impact sites, also in a residential area, located
to the northeast of the train station. There was no information about
casualties from that area.
Human Rights Watch heard what appeared to be salvos of Grad rockets
being launched from multi-barrel launchers from the north of the city
throughout the day, but ongoing fighting made it difficult to establish
whether there were additional civilian casualties.
Attack on Kuibyshivskyi district, July 19
Human Rights Watch documented five impact sites in Pervaya Ploshchad, a
residential area of mostly three- to five-story buildings on the western
edge of Donetsk, caused by a rocket attack at about 4 p.m. on July 19.
One of the rockets struck a five-story residential building at 6
Tumanyana Street. Valentina Fedorovna, 77, who lives on the ground
floor, told Human Rights Watch:
I was just about to turn on the TV when I heard a loud whistling
noise and a big bang. Then I don’t remember anything more until somebody
shouted “Is there anybody alive in here?” Then a young man came and
pulled me out. I was completely in shock.
Another resident, who was injured by a piece of shrapnel that went
through her arm and a smaller one lodged in her chest, told Human Rights
Watch:
All of a sudden I felt an explosion that pushed back so I hit my
head. I didn’t even notice that I was wounded. All the windows
shattered. People were screaming.
A Human Rights Watch examination of the site found that the rocket
had entered through the second floor of the building, continued through
the kitchen and bathroom of Valentina Fedorovna’s apartment on the
ground floor, and went farther down to the basement.” If the rocket had
hit two meters to the left it would have gone through the living room
where I was sitting instead of the kitchen,” Valentina Fedorovna said.
Another rocket, which hit the courtyard about 20 meters from Valentina
Federovna’s building, wounded four people, who were taken to the
hospital. Neighbors said one woman was seriously injured by a piece of
shrapnel that lodged in her chest.
A third rocket struck the playground of School 71; a fourth hit the road
outside the local church, shattering most of the windows; and a fifth
hit a single-story house that was empty at the time.
Both the flight direction of the rockets and circumstances of the attack
indicate that Ukrainian government forces were responsible. The rocket
striking 6 Tumanyana Street hit its western façade. The crater in the
soft ground in the school playground also showed that the rockets came
from a western direction. At the time of the attack, the front line
between insurgent and Ukrainian government forces was several kilometers
farther west, according to local residents.
Insurgent forces manning a checkpoint about three kilometers west of the
Pervaya Ploshchad area told Human Rights Watch that Grad rockets had
also hit their checkpoint and the area between the checkpoint and the
residential area in the same attack. Human Rights Watch observed
craters, marks on the asphalt, and remnants of Grad rockets near the
checkpoint and between the checkpoint and the residential area that were
consistent with this account.
Attack on Petrovskyi district, July 12
At about 4 p.m. on July 12, multiple Grad rockets hit a residential area
in Petrovskyi district in the western part of Donetsk. The area that
was hit is several kilometers north of a road that demarcates the front
line between insurgent and Ukrainian government forces.
Human Rights Watch examined 19 impact craters in an area about 600
meters wide. Local residents also showed Human Rights Watch remnants
from Grad rockets that they said had hit their gardens or houses.
In one case, a rocket struck the house and garage at 2 Chugaeva Street, killing an entire family of two adults and two children.
Liudmila, 62, was at home in Chugaeva Street when the attack happened. She told Human Rights Watch:
I was in my room when I first heard a whistling sound. The walls and
windows started to shake and then there were many loud bangs. My son was
in the kitchen. He came running when the attack started, probably
trying to save me, but a shrapnel hit him in the leg. What’s here that
they wanted to attack? There is no factory here, no fighters, just poor
houses.
Liudmila’s car was destroyed in the attack and Human Rights Watch
observed significant damage to her house. Her son was recovering.
An officer on duty in the local police station showed Human Rights Watch
the logbook from July 12 and provided Human Rights Watch with addresses
where people had died during the attack. The police had registered
seven deaths, including the four people mentioned above.
Craters and marks on buildings showed that the rockets had been launched
from a location to the southeast. The likely launch area is located
south of the southern-most checkpoint manned by insurgent forces.
Several of the impact craters indicated that the rockets had come from a
southern direction. Local residents said that there had been no
insurgent forces or weapons in the area before the attack.
Attack on Maryinka, July 12
At about 10 p.m. on July 12, multiple Grad rockets struck an area in the
southeastern part of the village of Maryinka, which consists of fields,
an industrial zone, and a residential area, clustered around a milk
factory.
Maryinka has about 10,000 inhabitants and is just outside the western
edge of Donetsk, adjacent to the Petrovskyi district. It consists mainly
of three- to five-story buildings.
A 25-year-old taxi driver told Human Rights Watch:
I was at home when the attack started. I ran to the basement
immediately, but the attack was over in about 40 seconds. There was no
warning. Nothing had happened here before. I only came out from the
basement when the [insurgents] came to evacuate us. Everything was
burning and there was debris everywhere. I never thought that something
like this could happen here.
The local department for housing and utilities, which documented the
effects of the strike, provided Human Rights Watch with the names of six
people who died in that attack. All of those killed were between the
ages of 45 and 60. Fifteen people were taken to the hospital, a
department employee said, most with light injuries such as concussions.
Human Rights Watch documented multiple Grad rocket impacts in the
residential area. Several buildings had been hit directly, and most
buildings in the area had broken windows. According to the housing and
utilities department, at least 12 apartment buildings had direct rocket
hits. Human Rights Watch discovered remnants of Grad rockets in multiple
locations in the area that was hit, including inside destroyed
apartments.
At the time of the attack, insurgent forces manned a checkpoint about
800 meters southwest of the edge of the village, and an unknown number
of insurgent forces were deployed on the opposite side of the road,
between the checkpoint and the residential area that was hit. The base
commander said that both the checkpoint and the base were struck at the
same time as the residential area and that 22 rockets landed on the
territory of his base. There were additional Grad attacks against the
same area in at least the two following days, residents and the
commander said, but most civilians evacuated immediately after the
initial attack. Following the attacks, the insurgent base relocated
closer to the center of Maryinka, the commander said.
Ukrainian government forces appear responsible for the attacks. All the
rockets that had struck buildings hit walls facing southwest, indicating
that the rockets came from there. Insurgent force personnel told Human
Rights Watch that none of their troops were located farther southwest
beyond the checkpoint 800 meters from the residential part of Maryinka,
which, if true, would not have made it possible for them to have carried
out the attack. A journalist who travelled to some of the villages
southeast of Maryinka two days after the attack told Human Rights Watch
that he saw no insurgent forces in that area at that time.
The journalist told Human Rights Watch that pro-Kiev forces in
non-standard uniforms in Novomikhaylivka, a village southwest of
Maryinka, had boasted to him the following day that they had a Grad
rocket system and that they were firing on insurgent forces. The
soldiers told the journalist that their aiming was accurate because they
had scouts that helped them direct the fire.
A resident of Maryinka who fled to another village after the attack told
Human Rights Watch that he saw Grad rockets being launched twice from a
village farther southwest, which was under the control of Ukrainian
forces on July 13.
