Russian forces have used cluster munitions, prohibited under international law, at least 24 times in populated areas of Ukraine in the 5 weeks since the start of the war, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced on Wednesday, according to EFE news agency. „Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,” she also said, referring to the shelling of homes and administrative buildings, hospitals and schools, water stations and electricity systems. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said there are positive signals regarding Tuesday’s Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Turkey, but that Ukraine does not intend to relax its military efforts. He emphasised there can be no compromise with respect to his country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that Russian forces were regrouping near the capital Kyiv and Chernihiv in the north, to focus on other key regions and finalise what it called the freeing of Donbas. However, Reuters and the local authorities in Chernihiv confirmed that Russian attacks continued in both regions on Wednesday. On his first visit to China since his country invaded Ukraine, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday announced plans for a new “just and democratic” world order, in a partnership with China.
