Summary: Non-signatory Ukraine has not taken any steps to accede to the convention. It has participated as an observer in meetings of the convention, but not since 2014. Ukraine abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2018.

Ukraine possesses a large stockpile inherited from the Soviet Union. In 2014–2015, the armed forces of the government of Ukraine used cluster munition rockets in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine, as did Russian-backed armed opposition groups. The government of Ukraine has repeatedly denied that it used cluster munitions in the attacks.

Policy

Ukraine has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Ukraine has acknowledged the deadly long-term consequences of cluster munitions, but has not taken any steps to accede to the convention. [1] In 2012, Ukraine told the Monitor that it “considers cluster munitions to be legal weapons” and “an important component of Ukraine’s defense capabilities.” [2] Yet the government denied using cluster munition rockets in the country’s eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014 until a February 2015 ceasefire (see Use section below). There is no evidence of cluster munition use since February 2015.

Ukraine has stated that, if using its own resources alone, it would not be able to destroy the large stockpile of cluster munitions that it inherited from the Soviet Union within the eight-year deadline required by the Convention on Cluster Munitions [3] (see Stockpiling and destruction section below).

Ukraine attended several meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and participated as an observer in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008. [4]

Ukraine has participated as an observer in Meetings of States Parties of the convention, but not since 2014. [5] It was invited to, but did not attend the convention’s Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018.

In December 2018, Ukraine abstained from the vote on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.” [6] It has abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Ukraine has voted in favor of UNGA and Human Rights Council resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2018 and March 2019, respectively. [7]

Ukraine is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production and transfer

In November 2010, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that Ukraine has not produced cluster munitions and did not import them. [8]

Stockpiling and destruction

Ukraine inherited a large stockpile of cluster munitions after the break-up of the Soviet Union. It shared information in 2011 on the types stockpiled, as detailed in the following table.

Cluster munitions of the armed forces of Ukraine [9]

At that time, Ukraine said that cluster munitions constituted 35% of its stocks of conventional weapons, which totaled two million tons of ammunition. Of these cluster munitions, 34% were produced before 1980, while another 36% were produced between 1981 and 1992 and “might be used.” The remaining 30% contained antivehicle landmines. [10]

Ukraine has reported the destruction of an average of 10,000–20,000 tons of cluster munitions annually and estimated that it could take 60 years to destroy the stockpiles that are currently slated for destruction. [11]

Use

Ukraine has used cluster munitions as recently as 2015, but has denied responsibility for doing so. Despite continued hostilities, there has been no evidence or allegations of new use of cluster munitions in the east of the country since a February 2015 ceasefire.

Previously, in 2010, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that Ukraine would not use cluster munitions except to defend itself from outside aggression. [12] In the past, Ukraine has called for a moratorium on the use of what it has described as “inaccurate and unreliable” cluster munitions. [13]

Use in 2014–2015

Human Rights Watch, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission, and media outlets have reported use of cluster munitions by Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed anti-government forces in the east of the country from July 2014 until February 2015. [14]

Both parties used two types of ground-fired cluster munitions:

• The 300mm 9M55K-series Smerch (“Tornado”) cluster munition rocket, which has a minimum range of 20 kilometers and a maximum range of 70 kilometers, and delivers 72 9N235 submunitions.
• The 220mm 9M27K-series Uragan (“Hurricane”) cluster munition rocket, which has a range of 10–35 kilometers and delivers 30 9N235 submunitions or 30 9N210 submunitions.

The Smerch and Uragan cluster munition rockets are fired from dedicated multi-barrel launchers mounted on an eight-wheeled vehicle. The 9N210 and 9N235 fragmentation submunitions are designed to self-destruct a minute or two after being ejected from the rocket. [15] Yet a significant number of submunitions used failed to self-destruct as designed and several cluster munition rockets malfunctioned shortly after launch, falling to the ground with their full payload of submunitions intact.

The 2014–2015 cluster munition attacks in Ukraine attracted widespread media coverage, public outcry, and condemnations from at least 32 states and the European Union. [16]

Neither party to the conflict accepted responsibility for using cluster munitions. Ukraine has repeatedly denied the use and attributed the attacks to pro-Russian separatist groups and members of the Russian armed forces. [17] Russia has repeatedly drawn attention to Ukraine’s use of cluster munitions, but has not itself acknowledged or taken responsibility for the cluster munition attacks. [18] The denials and lack of a strident defense of the weapons show how the growing norm stigmatizing cluster munitions is taking hold.

There is no evidence indicating that cluster munitions have been used elsewhere in Ukraine, for example, in Crimea.