RUSSIA has raised the use by Ukraine of so-called petal mines against civilian targets in the eastern Donbass region with the United Nations, officials said today.

“On August 1, we sent a letter to the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, and to the president of the UN security council, Zhang Jun, containing additional information on Ukraine’s use of Lepestok mines against civilian targets in Donbass, with corresponding photo materials attached to it,” Russian UN representative Dmitry Polyansky said. 

The cluster munitions, difficult to spot, are banned under international law, while their use is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.