Russian Federation
Practice Relating to Rule 37. Open Towns and Non-Defended Localities
The Russian Federation’s Regulations on the Application of IHL (2001) states:
[N]
on-defended locality is any inhabited place, proclaimed as such by a party to the conflict and situated in the zone of combat operations or nearby which is open for occupation by an adverse party. All combatants, as well as mobile military objectives must have been evacuated from the non-defended locality, no hostile use shall be made of fixed military objectives, no acts of hostility shall be committed by the authorities and the population, all military activities shall be terminated.
The Russian Federation’s Military Manual (1990) states that “the bombardment by military aircraft or vessels of cities, ports, villages, dwellings or buildings … which are undefended and not used for military purposes” is a prohibited method of warfare.
The Russian Federation’s Regulations on the Application of IHL (2001) states: “
objects protected by international humanitarian law include … non-defended … zones … Attacks against such objects are prohibited by international humanitarian law with the exception of cases stipulated by this law.”