Following months of debate within his administration, President Biden has approved the provision to Ukraine of long-sought cluster munitions, bypassing legal restrictions. The munitions are banned in much of the world. Here is what to know about them and why they are so controversial.
The United States has a stockpile of cluster munitions, but it is last known to have used the weapons in battle in Iraq in 2003. The United States is not providing Ukraine with cluster bombs intended to be dropped from planes.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published new evidence suggesting that Ukrainian forces have already injured civilians by use of cluster munitions, which Russian forces have used far more extensively, also causing civilian deaths.
How cluster munitions work
Cluster munitions release a deadly rain of smaller
submunitions over an area. The cluster munitions that
the United States is set to provide to Ukraine
are launched from artillery pieces.
Launch
Munition is fired
from the ground
1
Separation
The shell disburses
a bombardment of
small explosives
2
Submunitions
Detonation
Submunitions
land — most
detonate, some
do not
3
Source: Army training manual 9-1025-215-10
How cluster munitions work
Cluster munitions release a deadly rain of smaller submunitions
over an area. The cluster munitions that the United States is set to provide
to Ukraine are launched from artillery pieces.
Submunitions
1
2
3
Launch
Munition is fired
from the ground
Separation
The shell disburses
a bombardment of
small explosives
Detonation
Submunitions
land — most
detonate, some
do not
Source: Army training manual 9-1025-215-10
Why is the United States sending them to Ukraine?
Facing diminishing Western stocks of artillery rounds and deeply entrenched Russian forces, the Ukrainian counteroffensive, intended to return the country to preinvasion borders, has progressed slower than Western officials had hoped.
Amid Ukrainian frustration over Western expectations in the absence of overriding artillery superiority and fighter jets yet to arrive, President Volodymyr Zelensky was pushing the American government for cluster munitions, claiming they are the most effective way for Ukrainian forces to push quickly though expansive Russian trenches and deadly minefields.
Why are cluster munitions controversial?
Over 120 nations have signed a convention pledging not to use the weapons because of their indiscriminate nature. Not only do they fall over a very wide area, which leads to potential civilian casualties during conflicts, but many submunitions fail to explode on impact. This means they can continue to kill or maim people long after a war has ended.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in 2010 that between 10 and 40 percent of ordnance released by cluster munitions used in recent conflicts failed to explode immediately, presenting a major threat to civilians. The Convention on Cluster Munitions prevents the use, development, stockpiling or transfer of the munitions. But Russia, Ukraine and the United States are not signatories to the agreement.
For the past seven years, Congress has stipulated in defense appropriations that cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1 percent cannot be produced, transferred or used. The Pentagon says none of the munitions in question have a failure rate of more than 2.35 percent, far lower than cluster weapons being used by Russia, although it has declined to release testing data. The White House is circumventing the congressional limit by authorizing the transfer under a separate law called the Foreign Assistance Act.
In its new report, Human Rights Watch accused Moscow and Kyiv of using the weapons since the February 2022 invasion, leading to deaths and serious injuries among civilians. In one incident in the early days of the war, Ukrainian authorities and witnesses alleged Russian used the munitions in an attack on a train station that killed 50 people. Mary Wareham, acting arms director of Human Rights Watch, said the weapons “are killing civilians now and will continue to do so for many years.”
What other nations use cluster munitions?
Human rights organizations documented and heavily criticized the United States over its extensive use of cluster bombs during the initial years of the Afghanistan invasion.
Israel fired millions of cluster munitions into Lebanon in 2006, during a short conflict against Hezbollah, which also fired cluster munitions into Israel. The United Nations estimated that of the 4 million submunitions from weapons fired by Israel, up to 1 million remained unexploded at the end of the conflict, killing Lebanese civilians.
The munitions have been used by both Russian and Syrian forces in Syria, destroying cities like Aleppo and killing civilians amid the civil war there. Human Rights Watch documented Saudi Arabia using cluster munitions made by the United States against Houthi rebels in Yemen, a move the group said leaves civilians in an already deadly region in added danger due to unexploded ordnance.
Karen DeYoung, Alex Horton, Missy Ryan, Claire Parker and William Neff contributed to this report.