Russia Fires Grad Rockets from Belgorod Highway Shielded by Queuing Civilian Cars [VIDEO]

A Russian BM-21 Grad self-propelled rocket launcher could be seen firing a volley of rockets – presumably towards Ukraine – in the middle of a highway in the Belgorod region amidst numerous civilian cars, as seen in a video circulating on social media on Wednesday.

Some Ukrainian social media reports claimed the missiles were fired toward Ukraine’s Kharkiv region as part of the Russian military’s ongoing offensive, though Kyiv Post is unable to independently verify the claims.

“The Russians hit Kharkiv Oblast with ‘Grad’ right from the road of Belgorod Oblast. Meanwhile, civilians wait meekly in traffic,” the video’s description read.

In the video, civilian cars with the regional code 31 – belonging to Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine – could be seen waiting in line as a Grad system continued to fire rockets after rockets in the middle of the highway.

It’s not clear when exactly the video was taken.

Launching attacks on a highway without prior evacuation or, at the very least, cordoning off the area from civilian access, meant that Ukrainian troops would not be able to launch a counterattack without causing collateral damage to the surrounding civilian populations.

The use of human shields constitutes a war crime.

In August 2022, Amnesty International criticized the Ukrainian military for positioning military installations near civilian populations. However, the claim was lambasted as idiotic by critics, since Ukraine would not be able to defend its own territories without placing military objects in the vicinity. 

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