The president of the United States, Joe Biden, agreed to give Ukraine the controversial cluster munitions for use against Russian troops. The weapon detonates in midair, releasing “bombs” that spread over a large area.
Opponents say they kill indiscriminately and that some of the smaller munitions may not detonate, posing a long-term risk to civilians.
US officials said the cluster bombs it will provide have a low “miss rate” of less than 2.35% to minimize risk.
President Biden called it a “difficult decision” but said he had to act because “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”
told to CNN that the cluster bombs were being sent as a “transition period” until it can supply more standard 155mm ordnance.
Colin Kahl, assistant secretary of defense for policy, said “hundreds of thousands” were available, but declined to say how many would be provided initially.
He said Russia had been using older cluster munitions with a 30-40% failure rate since the start of the war.
Ukraine is said to have guaranteed in writing that it would not use them in populated areas, to map where they are used, and committed to a post-war cleanup.
The United States postponed the decision “as long as it could” because of the risk to civilians, said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
But he said there was “a massive risk of civilian harm” if Russia takes more territory because Ukraine does not have enough artillery.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said cluster bombs could have an “extraordinary psycho-emotional impact” on demoralized Russian troops.
More than 100 countries have signed a convention against the use and manufacture of cluster bombs, but the US, Russia and Ukraine are not party to it.
“We’re not signatories to that agreement, but it took me a while to convince myself to do it,” President Biden told CNN.
He said he had followed the recommendation of US defense officials.