The Russian Investigative Committee says it has received rock-solid proof that Kiev’s armed forces have been using weapons of mass destruction against civilians in eastern Ukraine.
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“The office of the Russian State Investigative Committee, dealing with crimes involving the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare, has discovered and procedurally documented irrefutable evidence that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been using weapons of mass destruction, namely the Tochka-U tactical missile complexes [SS-21 Scarab in NATO classification] against civilians in the armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine,” the investigative committee said in a statement published on its official website on Monday.
The committee also stated that the Tochka-U can fire a wide range of missiles, both conventional and non-conventional, nuclear or chemical.
“According to the investigation data, the Ukrainian military used missiles equipped with high-explosive fragmentation and cluster charges against the civilian population of Donbass,” the committee stated, noting that one such high-explosive warhead produces up to 14,500 fragments, scattering them over an area of up to three hectares. The cluster rocket produces even more fragments – up to 15,800 pieces – ensuring damage to manpower and soft-skinned vehicles in an open area ranging from 3.5 to 7 hectares.
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A significant number of Tochka-U systems remained in Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, it is one of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the modern Ukrainian Army.
The missile complex was designed in the 1970s and adopted by the Soviet Army in 1975. It was initially designed for localized strikes aiming to destroy small targets, such as ground-based reconnaissance and strike systems, control stations, aircraft and helicopter parking, ammunition and fuel storage, etc. deep within enemy positions.
