The US is still waiting for updates from Ukrainian forces about how effective the munitions have been on the battlefield. The US announced on July 8 that it would be sending the controversial munitions. Cluster munitions scatter “bomblets” across large areas, which would allow Ukrainian forces to target larger concentrations of Russian forces and equipment with fewer rounds of ammunition. The UK, France, Germany and other key US allies have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us” It is not clear whether the heavy amount of artillery ammunition Ukrainians forces have been expending day-to-day would have been sustainable long-term without the cluster munitions, officials and military analysts said. The U.S. and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a prolonged counteroffensive against Russia, and western countries are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages that could hinder Ukraine’s progress, they said. Russia has already used the munitions several times in Ukraine, the U.N. has previously reported, including in densely populated areas. A investigation last year found that the Kremlin fired 11 cluster rockets at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, during the war’s opening days. The dud rate refers to the percentage of bomblets that fail to explode and pose a risk to civilians, the US has reported. The administration said the M864 and M483A1 models were tested in recent years to ensure they had a lower than 2.35% dud rates. to ensure they have a lower dud rate, it said. It is unclear whether the munitions will be used long- term, but Ukraine has pledged in writing to only use them in “appropriate places” and not in populated areas, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told ‘s Wolf Blitzer last week. “The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage,” Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky said in an interview in central Ukraine last week that the munitions “can radically change (the battlefield),” he said. “They are using them appropriately. They’re using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia’s defensive formations,” Kirby said Thursday. “I think I can leave it at that,” he said of Ukraine’s pledge to use cluster munitions only in appropriate places and in “appropriately” placed areas, according to the secretary of defense’s office. “It’s a very serious issue. It’s not just a matter of whether or not you want to use them, it’s whether you’re willing to do it,” Austin said last week, adding that the Ukrainians have agreed to use the munitions in an “appropriate place and in an appropriate way” in the fight against Russia.
Ukraine has started using US provided cluster munitions in combat. Ukraine has been using cluster munitions since 2004. The US provided the weapons to Ukraine in exchange for military aid.
