Lyman cluster bombing

July 2023 Lyman cluster bombing
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
A damaged building in Lyman after the attack
Location	Lyman, Ukraine
Date	8 July 2023
Target	Ukrainian civilians
Attack type	cluster munition bombing
Deaths	9[1]
Injured	13
Perpetrators	Russia
Motive	Unknown

On 8 July 2023, at around 9:55 a.m., during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces shelled the residential area in the center of Lyman with 9M55K-series Smerch cluster munition. Lyman was at the time approximately 15 kilometers west of Russian-occupied territories. The bombing killed 9 civilians, while 13 were wounded.^[2][3][4] It targeted the crossing of Nezalezhnosti and Dubonosa Streets, where locals were selling and trading vegetables grown in their gardens.^[1]

It happened during Russia's failed military offensive towards Lyman. Due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons used in densely populated areas, Human Rights Watch described these strikes as a possible war crime.^[1] France likewise described this attack on civilians as a war crime and condemned Russia for it.^[5]

• Russian war crimes
• March 2022 Kharkiv cluster bombing
• April 2022 Kharkiv cluster bombing
• 2023 Uman missile strike