(Kyiv) Ukraine’s military on Friday night accused the Russians of firing phosphorus bombs at Serpents’ Island in the Black Sea, from where Moscow forces withdrew on Thursday after being chased by the Ukrainians .
Posted at 2:53 p.m.
“Around 6 p.m., the Russian armed forces twice carried out an air attack with phosphorus bombs on Serpents’ Island,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhniy wrote on Telegram, accusing Moscow “of not respecting his own statements.
The day before, the Russian army had indicated that it had withdrawn from this symbolic territory “as a sign of goodwill”, after having “accomplished” the “objectives set”.
“The only thing the enemy is consistent in is their consistent ‘accuracy’ of striking,” Mr Zaluzhnii castigated.
He accompanied his message with a video on which we see a plane flying over Serpents’ Island and dropping at least two bombs which hit their target, leaving light white streaks appearing in the sky, a distinctive sign of the phosphorus bombs.
Phosphorus weapons are incendiary weapons whose use is prohibited against civilians, but not against military targets, under a Convention signed in 1980 in Geneva.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of its use on several occasions since the end of February, including on the civilian population, which the Russian army categorically rejects.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian army was pleased to have forced the Russians, “unable to resist” the artillery, to abandon Serpents’ Island, located in the northwest of the Black Sea.
This small island became iconic from the first day of the Russian invasion when a member of the small Ukrainian garrison defending it told the Russian ship demanding its surrender to “fuck it”.
The Russian military had finally taken control, then repelling several Ukrainian attacks, until Thursday.