Cluster Blunder? Widely banned ultra-destructive cluster bombs from US arrive in Ukraine

The widely banned cluster munitions that the United States has approved for a war-torn Ukraine have arrived in the country. President Joe Biden last week said that he had made a “very difficult decision” to sign off the weapons for Kyiv. The news of Ukraine receiving the cluster bombs was confirmed by Lieutenant General Douglas A. Sims II who is also the director of operations of the military’s Joint Staff in Washington. The feature that makes cluster munitions so deadly is its ability to break mid-air to release bomblets in a wider area. The unexploded bomblets can maim or kill civilians. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN that the bombs could “radically change” the situation on the battlefield. The Pentagon, however, has not revealed exactly how many cluster munitions have been delivered to Ukraine. It said that Kyiv has assured that the bombs would not be used near civilian areas. Owing to the dangers that they pose, cluster bombs have been banned in over 100 countries including many allies of the US. “Russia is constantly using cluster munitions on our territory, fighting exclusively on our land, killing our people, using cluster munitions for many years,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended his demand for the weapons. He also assured that the cluster bombs will be exclusively used for military purposes and for use on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.”