Ukraine’s use of cluster bombs against Russia effective – US
The United States says the Ukrainian forces are using the controversial cluster munitions it supplied “effectively” in their counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion.
“We have gotten some initial feedback from the Ukrainians, and they’re using them quite effectively,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
“They are using them appropriately, they are using them effectively,” Kirby said, adding that additional details could be obtained from Ukraine.
Kirby also said the US-provided cluster bombs – which are banned by more than 120 countries – were having an impact on Russian defensive formations and the manoeuvring of Russia’s forces.
Citing an anonymous Ukrainian source, the Washington Post newspaper reported on Thursday that Kyiv’s forces are using cluster munitions against “well-fortified Russian positions that have slowed Ukraine’s summer offensive”.
According to the Washington Post, Russian front line positions in the east and south of Ukraine, which have successfully slowed Ukraine’s counteroffensive, have been “densely mined with antitank and antipersonnel mines and trip wires in areas” between 4.8km and 16km deep (three to 10 miles).
Cluster munitions are being used to “break up” Russian trenches, a Ukrainian military official told the newspaper.
Washington, DC-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said on Thursday that Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak had “reiterated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will be slow and difficult but will prevent Russian forces from retaking the battlefield initiative”.
The US and Ukraine have received broad criticism for the provision and use of cluster munitions on the battlefield and which have been banned by many countries because of the long-term risks posed to civilians.
Also Read: Ukraine war: Russia has ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster bombs – Putin
Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that Russia had “extensively used cluster munitions, causing many civilian deaths and serious injuries”, while Ukrainian rocket attacks using cluster munitions on the then-Russian-occupied city of Izyum in 2022 had killed at least eight civilians and wounded 15 more.
Cluster weapons typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, and those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades after.
While the use of cluster bombs does not violate international law, using them against civilians can be a violation, and a convention banning their use as been joined by more than 120 countries.
Signatory countries have agreed not to use, produce, transfer or stockpile the weapons, and to destroy those in their inventories. The US, Russia and Ukraine have not signed that agreement.
