THE BLOODY PROOF
Carnage of Putin’s war crimes laid bare by Ukraine’s mangled civilians
THE carnage of Vladimir Putin’s cluster bomb war crimes is laid bare by the mangled civilians in frontline hospital wards.
A Sun investigation found damning proof the banned munitions have rained down on homes in Donbas.
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At a clinic in blitzed Kurakhove, medics have treated more than 200 civilian victims and performed at least 30 amputations since Ukraine first came under fire in February.
We met six casualties after two suspected cluster bomb strikes on June 4 and June 8 left at least four dead and dozens injured.
They described signs of multiple blasts as suspected Urugan missiles burst open.
X-Rays show pellets from Russian 9N210 and 9N235 cluster munitions.
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Our findings come as human rights group Amnesty International accused Russia of killing hundreds of civilians with indiscriminate bombardments — including cluster bombs and scatter mines — in northern city Kharkiv.
Russia never signed the convention banning cluster mines — but Amnesty said indiscriminate hits resulting in death or injury to civilians constitute war crimes.
“THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOOD, A LOT OF HOLES” – NELYA, FACTORY WORKER
FACTORY worker Nelya, 40, saw five puffs of smoke — “little white clouds” — as she cycled home from the shops with her mother.
Mum Nina, 68, pushed her to the ground just before explosions erupted on the ground, sending shards of burning metal slicing through them.
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Mum-of-one Nelya said: “There was a lot of blood and a lot of holes. My mother’s leg was bleeding badly and she told me to take her headscarf and wrap it like a bandage.
“I didn’t notice that I was wounded, it was just that my leg felt hot. I screamed for someone to call an ambulance, but I knew they couldn’t come so I began to cry.”
They had gone to the shops near Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, to stock up on food because their local store was bare.
Soldiers sprinted over to perform first aid.
Nelya, who had a chest wound, added: “My T-shirt was totally soaked with blood. You could wring it out.”
“They put a tampon in my chest wound to stop the bleeding.”
Surgeons later had to amputate Nina’s left leg, while Nelya had a piece of shrapnel removed from above her ankle.
“AUNT HELEN WAS KILLED IMMEDIATELY” – OLEKSII, MECHANIC
MECHANIC Oleksii, 30, had just stepped outside with his aunt to give the local Ukrainian soldiers water on June 8 when there was an explosion four metres away.
He said: “My aunt Helen was killed immediately. I was lucky because the soldiers brought me to the hospital. The soldiers saved my life.”
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A tube drained fluid from a wound in his lungs where X-rays showed two shards of metal had lodged inside after tearing through his back.
The married dad of two had been cut off from his family when Russian troops captured the southern port of Berdyansk, where they were sheltering.
He said: “I came here because I thought it was stable.” He plans to go back to his widowed uncle in a village on the front line.
He said: “It is dangerous, but where else can I go?
“There is no way to see my wife and daughter. They are in an area controlled by Russia.”
“I GRABBED MY HAND AND COULDN’T FEEL IT” – LUDMILA FURSIK, PENSIONER
PENSIONER Ludmila Fursik suffered a shrapnel wound to her arm that sent “blood spurting like a fountain”.
The 64-year-old said: “There was a hole in my arm the size of a coin.”
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She was walking to her allotment to pick salad leaves for dinner when she heard a distant rumble of explosions on June 8. At first she ignored the danger.
She said: “We were used to it, so I carried on. But the next explosion was much closer and everyone started running.
“I hid behind a shed with my neighbour. There was black smoke all around from really loud explosions — things were falling down and exploding.
“My arm felt like my hand was attached to a string that was pulling me down.
“I grabbed my hand and I couldn’t feel it. Then I looked and saw the wound. I screamed for help.
“My neighbour had shrapnel in his lungs and liver.”
She said her daughter and her grandson had fled their home town of Khurakove, but she stayed to be near her son, who works at a local power station.
“I SAW THE BODY OF ROCKET IN A FIELD” – VLADIMIR, RETIRED DETECTIVE
RETIRED detective Vladimir, 61, was walking home across a field when he heard an explosion in the sky and dived for cover on June 4.
He said: “I lay on my stomach and covered my head. There were explosions all around. A piece went straight through the back of one leg and into the other.
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“About 70 metres away I saw the body of the rocket smash into the field. God saved me.”
He and his wife had been living underground for weeks in the almost abandoned town of Hostre. They now have no power because Russia bombed an electricity substation.
But despite the hardships he vowed to go back. He added: “I have four dogs and eight cats. It’s my home.”
Vladimir had been collecting firewood to get ready for winter because gas supplies have also been cut off.
He said: “We thought things were getting better, but then it started up again. The whole village is living underground because of the shelling.”
“OLA LOST HER EYE AND CAN’T SPEAK” – VERA SEREDA, FARMER
FARMER Vera Sereda, 57, had come out of her cellar to cook dinner on an open fire when she heard a blast on June 4.
She said: “Suddenly, with no warning, there was an explosion and little pieces fell down from the sky.
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“I was under a tree and I think it saved my life, but a little piece went into my chest.
“My neighbour Ola lost her eye and she can’t speak. She was taken immediately to Dnipro. Another neighbour lost her leg.
She added: “I had stayed here because I wanted to be with my family — but now I think it is too dangerous.”
“EXPLOSIONS, THEN SOMETHING HIT LEG” – VALENTIN YAGMUR, PENSIONER
PENSIONER Valentin Yagmur was sleeping in his coal shed when he came under attack.
The 79-year-old was there because his windows were blown out by earlier Russian shelling.
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He said of the latest attack, on May 19: “I heard several explosions above me. I felt them. Something went into my leg.”
Barely able to move, he waited until morning to hobble to a military checkpoint, where they bandaged the wound.
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Valentin — who won a Soviet labour medal from the old USSR — was sent home with instructions to keep the wound clean.
But with no one left on his street to help, he was unable to change the bandage and returned to the checkpoint — where volunteers were called to save him.
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