Fake: Ukraine uses mass destruction weapons in the Donbass

On February 13, the Investigative Committee published a statement under the name "of the IC of Russia received irrefutable evidence of the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Armed Forces of Ukraine." The statement states that the main investigative department of the IC “promptly obtained and procedurally recorded irrefutable evidence of the use of weapons of mass destruction in 2014, 2015, the Armed Forces of the Mass Damage-Tactical Missile Complexes“ Point-U ”-against the civilian population during the armed conflict”. The settlements in the Luhansk region are mentioned, which, according to investigators, were fired by: Lugansk, Novosvetlovka, Ternovka, Rovenka, the village of Yubileiny (part of the city of Lugansk), as well as Krasnodonsky district.

It is difficult to refute “irrefutable” evidence, since the UK does not lead them at all. The statement does not even say where and when they are presented. But the cases associated with the “Point-U” are mentioned in the reports of the OSCE special monitoring mission-in fact, the only source of information about military operations in the Donbass, not related to any of the parties to the conflict.

In the report for October 14, 2014, it was recorded that in Ilovaysk “the roof of the hospital’s administrative building suffered from entering it, as it turned out,“ point-U ”missiles, the remnants of which were still stuck in the roof.” This episode is not reflected in the statement of the UK. Ilovaisk at that time was under the control of the self -proclaimed DPR; Until August 31, 2014 he was occupied by Ukrainian armed forces.

The report on November 12 of the same year states that the monitoring mission “observed the remains of the exploded point“ Point-U ”, as well as several destroyed buildings, houses, two tanks, two armored personnel carriers (BTR) and other vehicles in the village of Novosvetlovka (15 km southeast of Lugansk). The interlocutor of the “LPR” told CMM that tanks and BTRs belonged to the Ukrainian army and were destroyed in battles at the end of August. ” By whom and when the rocket was released, it was not installed.

The report for February 3, 2015 reports that “in the LPR controlled by Alchevsk (43 km west of Lugansk), observers of the SMM visited the warehouse and saw that the parts of the rocket probably (judging by the markings applied to these parts) belonged to the“ U “U” rocket. According to the interlocutors of the LPR, the rocket exploded in the territory of the metallurgical plant in the northern outskirts of Alchevsk. According to the representatives of the “LPR”, they transferred the rocket from the place of its fall. Subsequently, the observers of the SMM showed a place where the rocket hit, where they saw small remnants of the missile without marking. According to the interlocutors from the “LPR”, the incident occurred the day before night on February 1 at 23:24. The SMM team could not check this information. Representatives of the “LPR” reported that the anti -aircraft missile intercepted the rocket in the air. However, the SMM saw only parts of the rocket and fragments at the scene; The SMM team could not establish whether they were components of the rocket that was shot down on the night of February 1. The wound or damage was not reported, the SMM team did not see anything like it. In a warehouse in Alchevsk, the LPR Group for Monation also showed the SMM team some fragments, which, according to them, belonged to a downed rocket. Again, the SMM team could not check the accuracy of this information. ”

There are no other references to the “Point-U” in the daily reports of the OSCE monitoring mission. According to this information, it is impossible to conclude that it was the Ukrainian side. It does not disclose what evidence of the use of this weapon.

It is curious that he calls the “point-u” weapons of mass destruction. According to the military encyclopedic dictionary of the publishing house "Big Russian Encyclopedia" (2001), nuclear, chemical and biological weapons include weapons of mass destruction, as well as the emergence of its other types based on new physical principles. Obviously, the tactical missile system “Point-U” does not correspond to this definition. Sometimes OMPs are also called other types of weapons that give a shaft defeat of the enemy: multiple launch rocket systems, heavy thermobaric ammunition, flamethrower systems. But even under such an expansion interpretation “point-U” does not fall.

Even the first deputy chairman of the Council of the Federation Council on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich carefully corrected the representatives of the UK. “Such qualifications may take place. But usually the military by weapons of mass destruction understands bacteriological, chemical and nuclear weapons, ”RBC quotes Senator quoted . According to the expert of the Center for the Political Conjuncture of Oleg Ponomarenko, which RBC refers to, "to say that the use of" points-U "is already the use of weapons of mass destruction is incorrect."

Nevertheless, Russian television channels in open text without any reservations accuse Ukraine of using weapons of mass destruction. The representative of the UK Svetlana Petrenko in a speech, whose fragments showed the first channel and Russia 24, claims that the missiles were equipped with fragmentation and cassette charges. “The use of such weapons suggests that the Kiev authorities pursue the goals of the total destruction of the population and the southeast of Ukraine,” Petrenko said. In other words, the representative of the UK accuses Ukraine of genocide.

In the information plot of Russia 24, Petrenko says : “International treaties are prohibited by the use of weapons, which leaves no chance of surviving both the warring parties and civilians during a clashes or in military conflicts.” This description corresponds to only a particularly powerful weapon of mass destruction. Petrenko, as follows from her further words, has in mind a weapon of indiscriminate action; Contracts on the prohibition of the application of individual types exist, but the point-U does not fall under them.

The Convention on Cassette Munitions mentioned by Petrenko was signed by 108 states and entered into force in 2010. But among these states there is neither Ukraine nor Russia (except for them, the Convention was also not signed by the United States, China, India, Israel and a number of states). Fragmentation and fugus ammunition is not prohibited by any international treaties.

In the operational reports of the missile monitoring mission, equipped with cassette ammunition, they are mentioned only once - February 11, 2015. It was recorded that they were fired by Kramatorsk, controlled by Ukrainian government forces. That is, apparently, not the Ukrainian side applied them at all.

Among other things, the official media, reporting on the use of the Point-U Ukraine, replace the past time with the present, although the SK statement is only about 2014-2015. So, on the Russia 24 channel, Subtitra reports : “APU is used against the inhabitants of the Donbass of the Point-U rocket.”