The British "Economist" magazine said that residents of the Russian city of Bucha, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital (Kyiv), found thousands of small arrows embedded in buildings and cars.

She explained that metallic projectiles, which are less than 3 centimeters in length and known as "flechettes" (French word for small arrows), are a notoriously brutal weapon and unfamiliar in modern wars, so why does Russia use it in Ukraine?

The magazine's report sheds light on the history of the weapon, also known as cuneiform bombs, which was invented in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century and was adopted by all parties in the First World War.

The length of the arrows used at that time was 12 centimeters with fins to fix them on the objects they were targeting, and the planes were dropping dozens or hundreds of packages filled with those arrows on the enemy targets, but they were not effective, so they were soon replaced by explosive bombs.

But America developed a new generation of these arrows, more deadly in the fifties of the last century, in a program called "Lazy Dog".

The Economist report explains that the new developed generation is a bomb weighing 225 kilograms that explodes to release more than 10,000 projectiles, each of which is 44 millimeters long, and each has the power and speed of the bullet, and the bomb has the ability to hit 9 targets per square meter, so it is It has a tremendous ability to kill anyone in the area where it explodes.

Unlike other bombs, the "Lazy Dog" does not make a loud sound except for the crackling caused by the steel rain that the bomb releases.

America used flechette shells fired from artillery in its war in Vietnam. They were known as “beehive bullets” because of the buzzing of arrows shooting towards their targets, and about these weapons circulated horrific tales, most of them fabricated about the victims who were found nailed to tree trunks.

According to the report, studies conducted by the US Army on animals show that small arrows fall at a high speed when they enter the body, and this causes serious injuries that are not commensurate with their small size, and can penetrate bones.

The report indicated that Israel used cuneiform bombs against the Palestinians in the early 2000s, and human rights organizations tried, without success, to stop the use of cuneiform bombs by the Israeli army against targets in the occupied West Bank, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

The magazine quoted Neil Gibson, an expert at Fenix ​​Insight, a consultancy specializing in the disposal of explosives, as saying that the flechette shells in Bucha were fired from Russian 122 mm artillery.

The newspaper said photos taken near Bucha show a destroyed 122mm rifle with unfired 3SH1 rounds scattered around the rifle.

The magazine said that Russia may have provided its forces in Ukraine with a limited amount of flechette shells for defensive purposes;

Its use may be due to logistical problems, as the Russian forces may have resorted to using their ammunition indiscriminately.

The magazine does not rule out that Russia used cuneiform bombs in order to intimidate the Ukrainians.