US plans to send Ukraine cluster munitions
The United States plans to announce a new military aid package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
What is known
This was reported by the Reuters news agency. A new aid package may be announced today, July 7. The amount of weapons must exceed $500,000,000.
According to the source, the aid package will include cluster munitions. Ukraine has been asking for them from the United States for a long time, but only now has the government decided to supply them. The new aid package will also include ammunition for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, additional Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers.
What is a cluster munition?
A cluster munition is a type of munition that contains several (often a large number) of separate small warheads that are ejected from a parent munition and scattered over a large area. Such warheads can have different purposes – they can be aimed at destroying people, equipment, aircraft, etc.
The warheads in cluster munitions can have an independent guidance system, which ensures more accurate target engagement. They can also be equipped with self-destruct systems that are activated if the munition does not work at the right time after being dropped.
Why have cluster munitions not yet been provided to Ukraine?
It is important to note that cluster munitions are the subject of international debate and restrictions due to the high number of civilian casualties, especially when munitions fail to detonate in time and remain dangerous after the conflict. For example, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in 2008, prohibits the use, production, transfer and possession of cluster munitions.
However, the United States will have a lot of such 155-caliber ammunition in storage.
Why does Ukraine need this ammunition so badly?
Ukraine is a large country and it is the second largest country in Europe in terms of territory, after the European part of Russia. In other words, it is actually the largest country in Europe, and many parts of the country are occupied by Russians.
The war in Ukraine is unlike any other military conflict of the 20th century except for World War II… This war is brutal, with a very large number of equipment and troops and huge areas of Russian fortifications on the front line.
Russia does not value its troops and soldiers, because they do not have a shortage of manpower, unlike the Ukrainians, where every soldier is valuable. To overcome the very vast territories of the occupiers’ fortifications, artillery covering a large area is needed. It’s no secret that in the second half of the 20th century, all weapons that were produced were intended to make pinpoint damage, without excessive collateral damage. But these weapons are not effective on the scale of the war in Ukraine, where the occupiers occupy hundreds and thousands of kilometers of territory.
Thus, cluster munitions are needed to break through the fortifications of the Russian occupation forces as soon as possible and save hundreds and thousands of Ukrainian lives.
Some citizens of Western countries will say that cluster munitions are inhumane. Ukrainians will respond by saying that it is inhumane to come to another country, kill thousands of civilians and completely disregard human rights. Russians kill civilians in Ukraine every day, from a few dozen to several hundred. At the same time, not a single Russian civilian has suffered at all. Russian soldiers on the territory of Ukraine have a choice to avoid being killed, they can simply leave the territory of Ukraine, but Ukrainians do not have this choice, because Ukrainians are on their own land and in their own homes.
The sooner Ukraine receives ammunition that will effectively liberate its territories from the occupiers, the sooner peace will come.
