Kenneth Glad
Local authorities are urging residents to exercise greater caution around abandoned belongings. Reports from the southern Ukrainian city have prompted renewed concern about threats hidden in ordinary surroundings.
Families in the Ukrainian city of Kherson have been told not to handle objects found in public places, writes Metro, following allegations that explosives were concealed inside packaging resembling wet-wipe containers and portable battery packs.
Yaroslav Shanko, head of the Kherson City Military Administration, has reportedly urged parents to explain the danger to children. His warning said items should not be collected from the street even when they appear safe or useful.
Hope for Ukraine chief executive Yuriy Boyechko told Metro that drones may have carried the devices into Kherson before dropping them in civilian areas.
“If a curious kid or anyone picks it up, or steps on it, then it explodes immediately. It is a direct crime against civilians,” he said.
Boyechko believes the alleged concealment reflects a tactical change because residents had become more familiar with recognizable anti-personnel devices.
Families receive safety advice
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service advises anyone encountering a suspicious object not to touch or move it. People should withdraw along the route they used to approach it, prevent others from coming near and contact emergency services on 101 or police on 102.
According to the Daily Express, Lord Alton, chair of the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, said explosives disguised as harmless products could cause deaths and severe injuries among civilians, particularly children.
International humanitarian law prohibits directing booby traps against civilians. Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons also prohibits devices made to resemble harmless portable objects specifically designed to contain explosives.
Determining whether those provisions were breached in Kherson would require independent evidence about the objects and their deployment.
Mobilisation warning remains separate
In a separate assessment of the war, Czech President Petr Pavel said Russia could order a wider mobilisation after its parliamentary election scheduled for September 20.
“Russia will have parliamentary elections in September. President Putin will hardly declare mobilisation before, but once the elections are over, then the window will shrink,” Pavel told The Telegraph.
The former NATO general did not claim that Moscow had already made such a decision. He said continued military assistance for Ukraine and diplomatic pressure could help push Russia towards negotiations.
Sources: Metro; The Daily Express; The Telegraph; Ukraine’s State Emergency Service
