The Biden administration has approved the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, something Kyiv has long asked for and human rights organizations have spoken out against.
The weapons “are banned by more than 100 countries because the submunitions spread out imprecisely, often fail to detonate and remain as explosive hazards for decades,” The Hill’s Brad Dress wrote.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said, “We want to make sure that the Ukrainians have sufficient artillery to keep them in the fight in the context of the current counteroffensive, and because things are going a little slower than some had hoped.”
Kahl said the cluster munitions being transferred to Kyiv will have a low failure rate and that the countries are working together to minimize harm to civilians.
President Biden has already defended the move, telling CNN that while it was a “difficult” decision, “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition” and “they needed them” amid their counteroffensive.
Sarah Yager, the Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Legislators, policymakers and the Biden administration will probably think twice when the pictures start coming back of children who have been harmed by American-made cluster munitions.”
Although 123 countries have signed a pledge not to use cluster munition weapons, the U.S., Russia and Ukraine have not joined that pact.
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