US Navy maintenance crew from 34th Naval Attack Squadron moves weapons containing Mark 20 Rockeye II cluster bombs across the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf during the US response to the
WASHINGTON – The United States (US) will send more cluster bombs to Ukraine in the near future to support Kiev’s counterattack efforts.
US news portals reported this on Thursday (7/9/2023), citing unnamed US officials.
Three US officials told the newspaper that President Joe Biden’s administration plans to supply more cluster munitions to Ukraine, two months after the first munitions package was sent to Kiev.
“Washington did not specify how many cluster bombs were included in the first batch of hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs at the Pentagon’s disposal,” the report said.
US officials say Ukrainian troops fire about 8,000 artillery shells per day, including hundreds of cluster munitions.
The newspaper reported that demand for Kyiv ammunition is expected to increase as units now rely more and more on heavy artillery to prepare for infantry attacks rather than NATO-style combined arms combat, which the Ukrainian army is finding difficult to master.
In July, the Biden administration sent its first military aid package to Ukraine that included cluster bombs.
The move was widely criticized by human rights activists and opposed by some US lawmakers.
Cluster bombs are not equipped with self-destruction devices. According to US military data, 5% to 14% of these munitions may not explode at all due to being stored too long.
As a result, these bombs can lie dormant for years, much like landmines, and pose a threat to civilians, long after the conflict has ended.
Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2005, which prohibits the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.
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2023-09-07 13:19:43
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