Listen 6 min Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareKYIV, Ukraine — 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 United States’ decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine is controversial because unexploded bomblets leave citizens at risk even decades later. The president’s decision bypassed U.S. law prohibiting the production, use or transfer of cluster munitions with a “dud rate” of more than 1 percent. AdvertisementWhile Russia has used cluster munitions far more extensively, Ukraine has also allegedly deployed these weapons during the war, using Soviet-era stocks or shells obtained from other countries. Most of Washington’s NATO allies have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a compact that bans their use and production, but the United States, Russia and Ukraine never signed the treaty.

Source: Washington Post July 20, 2023 16:10 UTC