Ukraine's 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign has released footage showing Russian forces striking a residential area of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast with phosphorus munitions — weapons whose use against civilians is strictly prohibited under international law.
The strike was filmed by drone pilots of the brigade's R.V. unit of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion. The same footage captured a Russian airstrike with a FAB-1500 high-explosive aerial bomb carrying a 1,500-kilogram warhead.
"Kostiantynivka. The brutal reality of a city that Russians are wiping off the face of the earth," the brigade wrote. "Our pilots of the R.V. unit of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion recorded Russian phosphorus strikes on a residential quarter. Prohibited weapons that burn everything alive. And right after — a FAB-1500 strike."
Phosphorus munitions contain an incendiary compound that burns at temperatures exceeding 800°C and spreads across an area of several hundred square meters. Injuries from such weapons can cause particularly severe and painful wounds or provoke a slow and painful death. Their use against civilian populations is strictly banned under Protocol III to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
According to official data, around 2,000 civilians remain in the city. The brigade said Russian forces "do not shy away from not only striking them with such means but also hunt them with drones."
The unit shared a photo of a local resident who had attempted to leave the city on a bicycle and was targeted by a Russian FPV drone. "The operator of the Russian FPV drone clearly saw that this was a civilian," the brigade stated.
"What we face is not an army, but true evil. And the only way for us to live in peace is to stop it," the 28th Brigade said.
