LAST UPDATE | 7 Jul 2023

THE UNITED STATES has authorised the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine despite the fact such bombs are banned in over 100 countries because of the risk they pose to civilians. 

Kyiv has been requesting more and more powerful military equipment since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February last year and this latest addition to the Ukrainian arsenal follows a pattern of incremental escalation in the flow of arms coming from the US. 

Cluster munitions consist of small bombs encased in a shell which is opened in the air above a targeted area. The bomblets rain down and explode on impact with the ground – in most cases. 

The reason they are banned in many countries is that they pose a significant risk to civilians because of their inaccuracy and because they tend to leave unexploded ordnance on the ground, often contaminating the landscape long after a conflict has ended. 

The Pentagon has said it will provide bombs with a lower “dud rate”. 

President Joe Biden described the move as a “difficult decision”. 

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden had approved the decision, describing it as the “right thing to do,” and said the need to help Ukraine counter Russian forces outweighs the risk.

There is “a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery,” Sullivan told journalists.

Kyiv “has provided written assurances that it is going to use these in a very careful way that is aimed at minimizing any risk to civilians,” he said, noting that Ukraine’s government “has every incentive to minimize risk to civilians, because it’s their citizens.”

Just days after Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine, however, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Russia’s reported use of the same devices could amount to war crimes. 

“We have seen the reports.  If that were true, it would potentially be a war crime,” she said in a press briefing. 

The US, Russia and Ukraine are not signatories to the treaty banning the use of cluster bombs, which was first signed in Dublin in 2008. However, many NATO members are signatories, including France the UK and Germany. 

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), some cluster bombs leave behind bomblets with a high rate of failure to explode — up to 40% in some cases.

Amnesty International has also released a statement condemning the proposed supply of these extremely destructive weapons. 

BREAKING: Amnesty International opposes the transfer of cluster munitions to the armed forces of Ukraine

Daniel Balson, @AmnestyUSA’s Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia said:https://t.co/WEaSFb9IJA

— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) July 6, 2023

In April The Journal spoke to the head of ICRC’s weapons contamination unit in Yemen, where unexploded cluster bombs and landmines continue to take lives even though fighting has come to a halt. 

Speaking at the time, team leader Maya Ordaz said: 

“What happens a lot with the UXOs (unexploded ordnance) specifically is that these metal objects take a long time to deteriorate. So they can be left in the sand and in the sun for months and months and they will still be shiny, very attractive for children who of course have nothing really else to play with. 

“So what happens often is that they pick them up, especially for example, a cluster, a little round silver ball shining in the sun, they pick it up, throw it to each other, play with it, and then the device gets activated.

“So, what you see often is a lot of impact on the upper body. So if the child survives, often the arms are gone, face, a lot of fragments to the upper chest. We’ve seen a lot of that.” 

The cluster bombs that now litter Yemen’s countryside were dropped by Saudi Arabia in its campaign supporting the government’s fight against Houthi rebels, which has been supported financially and logistically by the US among others. 

In a statement provided to The Journal, and ICRC spokesperson said: 

“Our concern globally is around the humanitarian consequences of cluster munitions – not just today, but for years to come. They can kill and maim indiscriminately and cause widespread human suffering.

“They can make it unsafe for people displaced by war to return to their homes and farmers to their fields, for years if not decades after conflicts end. We have seen in too many places children who mistake them for toys and lose their lives or limbs.”

Cluster bombs can be fired by artillery that the US has given Ukraine and the Pentagon has a large stockpile of them.

The last large-scale American use of cluster bombs was during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

But US forces considered them a key weapon during its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, according to Human Rights Watch.

In the first three years of that conflict, it is estimated the US-led coalition dropped more than 1,500 cluster bombs in Afghanistan.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked US President Joe Biden for a “much-needed” defence package following the White House announcement.

“A timely, broad and much-needed defense aid package from the United States,” Zelensky said on social media, thanking the American people and Biden for their “decisive steps.”

He said the “expansion of Ukraine’s defense capabilities will provide new tools for the de-occupation of our land and bringing peace closer.”

A timely, broad and much-needed defense aid package from the United States. We are grateful to the American people and President Joseph Biden @POTUS for decisive steps that bring Ukraine closer to victory over the enemy, and democracy to victory over dictatorship. The expansion…

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 7, 2023

- With additional reporting from Press Association