- The United States plans to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help it battle Russian invaders.
- Human Rights Watch called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the U.S. not to supply them.
- The munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.
- Bomblets that fail to explode pose a danger for years after a conflict ends.
- Zelenskiy said that Kyiv needed long-range weapons from the United States to fight Russian forces.
- Biden administration was considering sending DPICMs to Ukraine.
- The security assistance package would be the 42nd approved by the United States for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, for a total of more than $40 billion.
The United States plans to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help it battle Russian invaders, U.S. officials said, a move opposed by human rights groups but which would provide a powerful new element to Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
A weapons aid package that includes cluster munitions was expected to be announced soon, said three U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity. The White House said sending cluster munitions to Ukraine is “under active consideration” but it had no announcement to make.
Human Rights Watch called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the U.S. not to supply them. The group said that both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used the weapons, which have killed Ukrainian civilians.
The munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians. Bomblets that fail to explode pose a danger for years after a conflict ends.
A 2009 law bans exports of U.S. cluster munitions with bomblet failure rates higher than 1%, which covers virtually all of the U.S. military stockpile. Biden can waive prohibitions around the munitions as Trump did in January 2021 to allow the export of cluster munitions technology to South Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Kyiv needed long-range weapons from the United States to fight Russian forces.
Ukraine has urged members of Congress to press Biden’s administration to approve sending cluster munitions known as Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM). A Pentagon spokesman said the Biden administration was considering sending DPICMs to Ukraine, but only those that had a failure rate lower than 2.35%.
The U.S. military believes cluster munitions would be useful for Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said in June, but they had not been approved for Kyiv yet because of congressional restrictions and concerns among allies.
Also, in the aid package to be announced, which is expected to be worth as much as $800 million, Ukraine will receive munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and ground vehicles such as Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers, the officials said.
The security assistance package would be the 42nd approved by the United States for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, for a total of more than $40 billion. Ukraine has also been pushing for new Western fighter planes, including F-16s, as it pursues its counteroffensive.
NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands are leading efforts by an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, to maintain aircraft, and ultimately supply F-16s to Ukraine. Zelenskiy was visiting Prague as part of a foreign tour before a NATO summit next week at which he has urged the military alliance to take concrete steps towards Ukrainian membership.
(With inputs from agencies)
