Weaponry muscle: Ukrainians embrace cluster munitions

NEW YORK: The images of Russian troops retreating from a village in Ukraine under fire leave little doubt of the impact of cluster munitions. Soldiers running from a constellation of at least a dozen explosions around them. 

An armoured vehicle speeding down a road before being hit in a cascade of simultaneous eruptions salting the surrounding ground.

The August drone footage of the Russian withdrawal from the southeastern village of Urozhaine, verified by The New York Times, highlights the power of the weapons. But their usage also points to a grim trade-off in the 18-month conflict.

By embracing cluster munitions to keep this summer’s counter-offensive moving forward, Ukraine and the United States have opened themselves to human rights concerns about their long-term threat to civilians who inadvertently trigger unexploded bombs.

Now, two months after the US shipped an initial tranche of the munitions to Ukraine to ensure its troops did not run out of ammunition, three American officials said the Biden administration is planning to send more, and soon.

One official said the weapons were key to helping Ukraine maintain the momentum its troops just recently gained on the southern front against Russian forces. All three of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

President Biden’s decision this summer to send the munitions to Ukraine, after pleas by President Volodymyr Zelensky, drew widespread condemnation, and even some close American allies were critical.

Both Russia and Ukraine used the bomblets during the 18-month war well before the American shipment arrived in mid-July, but with a crucial distinction.

Russia has used them against a country it had invaded, where its forces have not hesitated to wreak indiscriminate destruction, while Ukraine has used them on its own soil, weighing the costs to its own people.

Cluster munitions have been banned by more than 100 countries because of their devastating effects, sometimes years later, on children and other civilians who mistakenly disturb and detonate unexploded rounds.

Some Ukrainian troops said US-supplied cluster munitions have been a powerful addition to a slew of weapons the West has sent for the counter-offensive, and a necessary substitute for their dwindling stocks of 155-millimeter artillery shells.

“They are super efficient,” said one Ukrainian marine, who participated in the successful fight for Urozhaine and who identified himself only as Serhiy. “When our guys see how we use them against the enemy, their spirits soar.”

US officials will not say how many cluster munitions were included in the first shipment, out of the hundreds of thousands that the Pentagon has available. The American-supplied cluster munitions are fired from 155-millimeter howitzers, with a range of about 15 miles.

Some military experts are now pushing for cluster munitions that can be launched from rocket systems and hit targets dozens of miles away.

For now, Ukrainian forces say the arrival of American cluster munitions had not only raised morale, but also helped to pick apart Russian defensive positions in the south, keep pressure on Russian troops in the east and hold back Russian assaults in the northeast.

And some experts point to some specific battles where they argue the cluster munitions have helped. One of those places is the small city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Province, where Ukraine has used them in defense more than offense.

The fighting in Kupiansk remains fierce. But so far, at least, Ukraine is holding the line, and Kasapo˘glu said “cluster munitions have indeed played a major role.”