The Biden administration on Friday announced plans to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine as changing battlefield conditions have once again flipped the debate over arms supplies once thought to be too sensitive.
Despite being disadvantaged in terms of numbers of soldiers and ammunition, Kiev used bombs that essentially contained small “balllets” to target deeply entrenched Russian positions and carry out counterattacks. has been demanding the use of this weapon for several months. according to to the New York Times. While the Biden administration initially frowned on Ukraine’s demands for the controversial weapon, which poses a unique risk to civilians, officials have seen in recent weeks that the White House has echoed Kiev’s allegations. was suggesting.
Laura Cooper, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said: Said In late June, Congress ruled that the administration decided that cluster munitions would favor Ukraine “especially against Russian positions dug in on the battlefield.” (Related: Biden repeats destructive pattern in supplying weapons to Ukraine, expert says)
The new aid package revealed on Friday includes “highly effective and reliable” weapons approved after extensive consultations with Congress and allies, the Pentagon said in a statement. rice field.
America maintain There is a large stockpile of Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), the official name for cluster munitions, dating back to the Korean War.
Those delivered to Ukraine “consist only of those with a misfire rate of less than 2.35%,” Colin Carle, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters on Friday. In contrast, Russia uses her DPICM, which she has a 30-40% chance of failing.
more than 100 countries Banned Cluster munitions have the highest failure rate of any weapon, according to The New York Times. The projectile explodes in mid-air, scattering small rounds over a large target area, but up to one-fifth of the small rounds do not explode on impact.
According to The New York Times, unexploded ordnance could detonate weeks or even years later when chaos erupts, injuring or killing civilians. After World War II, between 56,500 and 86,500 civilians were killed by delayed-explosion cluster bombs.
However, the launch of cluster munitions is not itself a war crime, and neither the United States, Ukraine nor Russia are parties to the 2008 Cluster Munitions Convention, which prohibits the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of cluster munitions, the NYT reported.
According to the NYT, as Russia seeks to occupy more Ukrainian territory, Russia has already used cluster bombs to devastating effect, detonating clusters during Ukraine’s counterattack to retake occupied territories. There are also reports of the use of bombs. The April 2022 attack on a crowded train station in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed dozens, mostly civilians, and injured more than 100, making it the deadliest wartime use of cluster munitions. rice field.
Karl said Ukraine had promised to carefully deploy ammunition, given that it would be used on Ukrainian territory.
preliminary report:
US media reported that the Biden administration has finally decided to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs (DPICM).
A great decision to make life difficult for Russian troops hiding in the trenches of Zaporizhia.
The only question is why is it so slow? pic.twitter.com/PcEpLp7WGq
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) July 6, 2023
The change comes as weeks of Ukrainian summer counterattacks have made little progress, CNN reports. report On June 30, the NYT reported that Russian forces had taken months to prepare for the publicly anticipated counterattack, digging miles of fortified trenches with tank traps and mines along their front lines.
U.S. officials say Russia’s defenses have proven more durable than expected, and if the counteroffensive drags on longer than planned, Ukraine may be running out of ammunition faster than it can restock, according to CNN. said to be sexual.
Michael Coffman, director of the CNA’s Russian research program, said the new capability “will remove much of the time pressure by freeing up large amounts of ammunition to continue the offensive.” Said Financial Times. Such munitions, he added, would prove to be “much more important” than other Western weapons recently acquired.
The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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