Ukraine, all about the cluster munitions sent by the United States
Ukrainian troops have long received cluster munitions from the United States. The bombs, which pop up in the air, dispersing multiple submunitions or bombs over a large area, are banned in 120 countries, but not in the US, Ukraine or Russia. Meanwhile, the new US aid package also includes depleted uranium munitions
The war in Ukraine leads to an increase in the global use of cluster bombs.
Faced with the difficulties encountered by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, and the progressive decline in stocks of conventional artillery shells available to NATO, the US decided last July to also supply Kiev with cluster munitions, another category of armaments highly controversial due to the danger posed by unexploded submunitions to civilians.
Cluster munitions, fired from the ground or from aircraft, explode in mid-air, spraying smaller “bombs” over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 countries because of their devastating effects, sometimes years later, on children and other civilians who mistakenly detonate unexploded shells. These weapons are “not a magic bullet,” but some Ukrainian troops say they are making a difference in the fight against Russian forces, a recent New York Times report points out.
Meanwhile, on September 6, the US Department of Defense announced a new arms package to Ukraine, the second in 24 hours after the one presented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Kiev. This also includes depleted uranium anti-tank ammunition, already sent to Kiev by Great Britain . This type of munitions, used in the Iraq and Gulf wars in 1991 and 2003, have long been at the center of controversy regarding the legality of their use and the health risks.
All the details.
CLUSTER MUNITIONS FROM THE USA TO UKRAINE
In deciding to send cluster munitions to Ukraine this year, Washington said they have legitimate battlefield use against military targets and would save lives if they hastened the end of the war. American officials have pointed out that their cluster munitions leave far fewer unexploded bombs than those used by Russia.
President Biden endorsed the decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine as a palliative for Ukrainian troops who risk running out of ammunition.
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 missile systems and hit targets tens of kilometers away, recalls the New York Times .
THE INCREASE IN CLUSTER MUNITION VICTIMS
But even before the Ukrainian military received cluster munitions from the US, the number of people killed or injured by cluster munitions increased eightfold last year to more than 1,000, largely due to their use in the war in Ukraine. , particularly on the part of Russia.
This is what emerges from therecent report by the Cluster Munitions Coalition, a network of non-governmental organizations that support the ban on weapons.
Of the 1,172 victims in 2022, 353 died, including more than 300 in Ukraine. This is the highest number of deaths reported from cluster munitions since the 2008 ban on the weapons, adopted by more than 100 countries. More than 120 countries around the world – but not the United States, Russia or Ukraine – have signed an international convention banning the production of cluster munitions and discouraging their use.
The report covered the year 2022, and therefore excludes Ukraine's use this year of US cluster munitions, which Kiev began receiving in July.
ZELENSKY'S POSITION
Ukrainian officials say the military is using cluster munitions only against Russian front-line troops. Russia denied using them, but threatened to do so in response. Without cluster munitions, Ukrainian leaders argue, they cannot match Russian firepower, the New York Times notes.
“I want to look at the situation from an equity perspective,” Ukrainian leader Zelensky said in July at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. “Russia constantly uses cluster munitions on our territory and fights only on our land. They are killing our people."
EXPERT COMMENTARY
But experts don't seem to agree with Ukrainian officials.
The strategic problem is that in the counteroffensive, Ukraine is fighting entrenched defenders, where cluster munitions "have their limits," Can Kasapoğlu, director of defense research at the independent Center for Economic and Political Studies, told the NYT . Istanbul's foreign policy. They could be successful when used with other types of artillery, but alone “they are not a magic bullet,” Kasapoğlu said.
Gian Luca Capovin and Alexander Stronell, analysts at the British intelligence firm Janes, said in August that Ukraine's use of cluster munitions in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, at least so far, "has not produced any decisive effect." .
DUE AMMUNITION IN NEW US MILITARY AID PACKAGE
Meanwhile, in addition to the cluster munitions already sent to Ukraine, the US is also ready to send depleted uranium projectiles.
Washington's new military aid package to Kiev, worth a total of 175 million dollars, includes a supply of 120 millimeter caliber depleted uranium projectiles. The United States Department of Defense announced this in a note, thus confirming rumors that had already been circulating for a few days. The supply of depleted uranium anti-tank ammunition will be part of the M1 Abrams tanks that are expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the year.
As mentioned, the UK already sent similar projectiles to Ukraine earlier this year. Since then, the debate has been reignited in Western countries regarding the danger of depleted uranium munitions, which emerged in the 1990s following the conflicts in the Balkans and Iraq.
TOXICITY RISK
A 2022 United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report claims that depleted uranium is an environmental concern in Ukraine. “Depleted uranium and toxic substances in common explosives can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase cancer risks,” the report said. “The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium is considered a more significant issue than the possible impacts of its radioactivity,” he added.
The United States claims that depleted uranium munitions do not pose a significant radiological threat. In support of their position they cite studies by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ucraina-tutto-sulle-munizioni-a-grappolo-mandate-dagli-stati-uniti/ on Fri, 08 Sep 2023 11:43:02 +0000.