US to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs for first time
The US will supply Ukraine with cluster munitions for the first time after President Joe Biden approved the transfer despite the controversial bombs being banned by most countries.
US officials familiar with the decision said cluster munitions would be included in a new military aid package to be unveiled as Washington and western allies try to boost Ukraine’s counteroffensive and help its forces regain territory captured by Russia.
The support is set to be announced ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Lithuania, but immediately drew criticism from human rights groups as well as from some Democrats in Washington.
While the US has never joined an international convention banning the use of cluster bombs, signed by around 120 countries, it has placed certain internal constraints on the use and transfer of the munitions. Under previous administrations, Washington has also criticized countries such as Syria for deploying the bombs.
Cluster munitions are weapons that break apart in the air and spread smaller bomblets across an area the size of a football pitch. They are often fired from artillery but can also be dropped from the air.
The bomblets are designed to explode on impact, spraying high-velocity pieces of shrapnel. But a high percentage of the submunitions — between 10 percent and 40 percent, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross — often fail to detonate, in effect turning them into landmines that can pose a threat for years after their initial use.
This has made them a highly contentious form of weaponry, which the United Nations has long urged countries to avoid using in war. Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine not to deploy them. “The use of such munitions should stop immediately and not be used in any place,” she said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday Washington’s decision is an “act of desperation” that will have no effect on Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine.
“It is an act of desperation and shows weakness against the backdrop of the failure of the much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
“The latest ‘miracle weapon’ which Washington and Kyiv are betting on, without thinking about the grave consequences, will have no effect on the special military operation,” she said, using Russia’s official term for its campaign in Ukraine.