US plans to send controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine - BBC News

 

The US will send Ukraine a cluster munitions package to help in its counter-offensive against Russia. The White House said it had postponed the decision for as long as it could because of the risk of civilian harm from such unexploded ordnance. Ukraine has been asking for the weapons for months amid an ammunition shortage. Cluster munitions - which are banned by more than 100 countries - are a class of weapons that contain multiple explosive bomblets called submunitions.

The banned weapon Russia (and the US) won’t give up

 

In Ukraine, human rights investigators like Amnesty International and Bellingcat have been tracking Russian attacks to aid in a potential war crimes investigation. One thing they’re paying special attention to is cluster bombs. Cluster bombs were first used in World War II; they scatter numerous smaller bombs over a wide area — often killing civilians. It’s this indiscriminate nature that often makes their use a war crime.

Russia accused of using cluster bombs as fighting rages in Ukraine’s cities

 

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, has seen some of the fiercest battles with Russian forces accused of using cluster munitions. Many civilians are reported to have been killed.