2023-07-13 20:46:00
A Ukrainian general confirms to CNN that Kyiv received US cluster munitions.
Dozens of 155mm Dual-Purpose Enhanced Conventional Ammunition (DPICM) wait to be loaded at a U.S. Army mobile park at Camp Hovey, South Korea, on September 20, 2016. (Photo : US Army/2nd Lt. Gabriel Jenko/Handout via REUTERS)
A Ukrainian general confirmed to CNN on Thursday that Ukraine had received the controversial cluster munitions from the United States, following President Joe Biden said last week that he had made the “difficult decision” to approve their transfer to Ukraine.
“We just received them, we haven’t used them yet, but they can radically change [el campo de batalla]”, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Joint Forces Operation Tavria, said Thursday in an interview with CNN’s Alex Marquardt.
“The enemy also understands that by obtaining this ammunition, we will have an advantage. The enemy will give up that part of the terrain where it is possible to use this,” he said.
The arrival of the US clusters has not been previously reported.
The high command will decide the “areas of the territory where it can be used,” Tarnavskyi said, noting that “it is a very powerful weapon.”
Tarnavskyi stressed the restrictions on the use of clusters, saying that their use is prohibited in densely populated areas, even if they are occupied by Russian forces. The US has said it has written assurances from Ukraine that they will not be used in areas with civilians and that their use will be monitored for eventual demining operations.
“The Russians think that we will use it in all areas of the front,” he added. “This is very wrong. But they are very concerned.”
The United States claimed that the decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine is due to the short supply of standard artillery shells to Kyiv. The cluster munition supply is “temporary,” according to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“Once [la producción] reaches a level where unitary projectile production can meet Ukraine’s needs, there will be no need to continue supplying cluster munitions,” he said Tuesday, declining to provide a timetable.
Why are cluster munitions controversial? Cluster munitions are canisters containing tens to hundreds of smaller bomblets, which are opened above the intended target, dispersing them over the area. A timer fuses them together to explode closer to or on the ground, scattering shrapnel designed to kill troops or take down armored vehicles like tanks.
These weapons have been banned by more than 100 countries, because the bomblets they disperse fall over a wide area, posing a risk to non-combatants. However, Russia has used these munitions during its invasion of Ukraine.
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