Mykolaiv cluster bombing

On 13 March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian Armed Forces bombed the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv using cluster munitions. The attack killed nine civilians who were waiting in line at a cash machine on the street at the time of the strike. The explosions also caused damage to nearby houses and other civilian buildings in the area.

Human Rights Watch conducted an analysis of the incident and determined that Russian forces used Smerch and Uragan cluster munitions in the attack, which struck densely populated areas of the city. Cluster munitions disperse numerous smaller submunitions over a wide area, and their use in populated civilian areas raises significant concerns under international humanitarian law due to their inherently indiscriminate effect.

Based on this analysis, Human Rights Watch described the use of cluster munitions in Mykolaiv as a possible Russian war crime. The attack is one of several incidents cited in broader documentation of war crimes committed during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, alongside other cases such as the Mariupol hospital airstrike and the Mykolaiv government building airstrike.

As of the available reporting, no individuals have been named as charged or convicted in connection with this specific attack. The case remains documented as part of the wider record of war crimes allegations arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with attribution made to Russian Armed Forces as an institution rather than to identified individuals.