The US President, Joe Biden, confirmed yesterday that Washington would send thousands of the controversial bombs to Ukraine to use against Russian forces.
He said that Ukrainians will run out of ammunition and that cluster munitions were a temporary solution to stop Russian tanks.
The specific type of cluster bombs to be sent to Ukraine are Depots of Improved Munitions 2 or DPICM, which the US military has previously pledged to destroy.
These bombs, each of which carries 88 other bombs inside, each has a destructive power of 10 square meters, and a cluster bomb can cover an area of 30,000 square meters.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: “Ukraine has provided written assurances that it is going to use these in a very careful way. This is aimed at minimizing any risk to civilians. Ukraine has every incentive to minimize risk to civilians because they are citizens of Ukraine and they are trying to protect and defend Ukraine.”
Moreover, while Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said that these weapons have less than 2.35% of unexploded ammunition, some experts say that these weapons are more than 20 years old and have a very high amount of unexploded munitions.
Meanwhile, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the United Nations Secretary-General, wants countries to adhere to the conventions of this organization, because the United Nations is against any use of ammunition.
“Countries must adhere to international conventions, and as a result, cluster bombs should not be used on the battlefield.”
In a Twitter message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden for the timely and needed defence aid package and said that this action brings Ukraine closer to victory.
Meanwhile, this action has faced different reactions from the US Congress. Some Democrats criticized this plan and some Republicans supported it.
These bombs explode in the air and release a large number of smaller bombs.
According to information from the Pentagon, the US last used cluster bombs in the attack on Iraq in 2003. But according to the Human Rights Watch report, the US forces considered these bombs to be a key weapon in their attacks on Afghanistan. It is estimated that the US-led coalition dropped more than 1,500 cluster bombs in Afghanistan in the first three years of the conflict.
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