Police officers in Kharkiv, Ukraine, look at collected fragments of Russian rockets, including cluster rounds on Dec. 3, 2022. (Libkos/AP)
Ukraine has begun firing U.S.-provided cluster munitions against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine in a push to break up well-fortified Russian positions that have slowed Ukraine’s summer offensive, according to Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
The use of the controversial U.S.-made weapons, which has not been previously reported, follows President Biden’s “difficult decision” to order the delivery of the widely banned munitions last week, a move that human rights groups, European allies and some Democrats criticized due to the risk of civilian casualties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to cluster munitions on Sunday, threatened to retaliate against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” although Russia has already used cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine at least 24 times since the start of Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to the United Nations.
WHAT A STUPID HUMAN RACE!
want to see stupid ? go read the responses to the article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/20/cluster-munitions-ukraine-war-russia/
Russia denies using them in the past. I wouldn’t know. Russia has started using them now. These weapons are especially dangerous to civilians. Both sides should stop using them.
The battle against the creation and use of Cluster Bombs has been extant since I was at the U of MN in 1982. Honeywell was cranking them out back then and students and other activists protested at their facility.
That’s 40 years of supreme court, congressional and state general assembly failure – because all three branches of govenment could have stopped the creation of cluster munitions four decades ago.