The United States announced July 7 that it would supply Ukraine with widely banned cluster munitions for its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces.
Rights groups and the United Nations secretary-general questioned Washington’s decision on the munitions, part of an $800 million (\112.8 billion) security package that brings total U.S. military aid to more than $40 billion (\5.6 trillion) since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces are already using cluster munitions on the battlefield and in populated civilian areas, U.S. officials have said. Ukraine is also using them against Russian forces.
The cluster munitions “will deliver in a time frame that is relevant for the counteroffensive,” a Pentagon official told reporters.
Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.
They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades after a conflict ends.
U.S. President Joe Biden described the decision on cluster bombs as “difficult,” but said Ukraine needed them. (Reuters, AP)
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