Use of incendiary weapons in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Incendiary weapons were used a number of times during the Russo-Ukrainian War.^{[citation needed]} Russians were accused of using white phosphorus bombs multiple times; in the Battle of Kyiv and against Kramatorsk in March 2022,^[1] against dug-in defenders at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in May 2022,^[2][3][4][5] and in Marinka over the 2022 Christmas holiday.^[6] White phosphorus is a toxic chemical, and exposure to vapors leads to long-term ailments of the body, up to permanent disfigurement and death through organ failure.

The use of incendiary weapons in civilian areas is not violating Article 2 of the 1980 Protocol on Incendiary Weapons, which prohibits only the use of air-delivered incendiary bombs in the close vicinity of concentrations of civilians and deliberate attacks against civilians with incendiary weapons (deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited regardless of the type of weapon used). The 1949 Geneva Conventions do not regulate the use of incendiary weapons. Additionally, Protocol I.^[7] prohibits the indiscriminate use of any weapons, not only incendiary. Both Russia and Ukraine are signatories of the 1980 Protocol on Incendiary Weapons, the former ratified it on June 10, 1982, while the latter did so on June 23, 1982.^[8]