Zelensky defends use of cluster munitions in war against Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky defended his country’s push for cluster munitions in its war against Russia on Wednesday, in the wake of the Biden administration’s decision to provide Kyiv with the controversial weapons.  

“Russia constantly uses cluster munitions on our territory,” Zelensky said at the NATO summit in Lithuania, according to The Associated Press. “It wages war exclusively on our land. It kills our people.”

“This is about justice,” he added. “We defend ourselves, without using [these] weapons on the territory of other states.” 

Zelensky also vowed the cluster munitions would be used “purely for military purposes” in Russian-occupied parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, the AP reported.

However, Human Rights Watch has reported that Ukraine and Russia both have used cluster munitions during the war that have “caused deaths and serious injuries to civilians.”

Cluster munitions, which are designed to spread dozen to hundreds of submunitions over a given area, are banned by more than 100 countries due to the risk that unexploded submunitions can pose to civilians. 

The Biden administration announced its decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions on Friday, fulfilling a long-standing request from Kyiv.

President Biden, who has faced pushback from some lawmakers and human rights groups, said last week that it was a “difficult decision” but argued that cluster munitions were necessary because Ukraine is “running out of ammunition” amid its latest counteroffensive.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken similarly said Wednesday that it was a “hard but necessary choice” to provide Kyiv with cluster munitions.

“If we didn’t do it, we don’t do it, then they will run out of ammunition,” Blinken told MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” “If they run out of ammunition, then they will be defenseless.”