On the other hand, I find any Russia reports extremely suspicious. While this is completely not out of the question, I would be skeptical that Ukraine would be engaging in sabotage of this sort which is both extremely damaging to PR and of only marginal use.

If it was "Ukraine had engaged in a policy of committing war crimes to regain Crimea" or "Individual Ukrainian troops or units were found committing war crimes", it'd be more believable, but "Ukraine is committing war crimes just to harass Russian troops" seems like something that would need additional verification before I'd lend it any credence.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Which law/s do you believe this breaks?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_on_Mines,_Booby-Traps_and_Other_Devices

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’m curious as to @[email protected]’s thoughts on this as Ukraine does appear to be a signatory to this treaty

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The part of the article we would be most concerned with would probably be:

(d) medical facilities, medical equipment, medical supplies or medical transportation;

This, in my understanding is generally considered to be actual hospitals and field hospitals;

Transport: ambulance, Helicopters and planes;

Medical equipment: critical equipment and tools;

Medical supplies: Supply drops or small deliveries en route to a military unit.

Ultimately, I'm not a lawyer, I just teach some material. If there was an argument as to whether or not it breaches the protocol that would be up to an international criminal court, maybe UN scrutiny? I start to lose the ball around here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thank you for the insight, I’m still unsure if this is a war crime but it likely warrants scrutiny from the relevant authorities.

I think people often chuck the declaration of war crime around a bit too quickly and without a proper understanding.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

I'm glad I could be of a little help. Nations have been trying to clearly define these things for centuries.

I think your final statement is why I'm here. A lot of internet discourse around war immediately resorts to calling everything a war crime. That's an incredibly precise label and we can't always be certain. What I know for sure is that war is hell and undue suffering is wrong.