Pentagon explains provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine despite threat to civilians

Colin Kahl, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, explained why the United States still decided to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions despite being criticised for the significant collateral damage to the civilian population.

Source: This was stated by Colin Kahl, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, at a briefing, reports the correspondent of European Pravda.

A representative of the US Ministry of Defence named three reasons behind Washington's decision to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Quote: "One is the urgency of the moment. The Ukrainians are in the midst of their counteroffensive. It’s been hard sledding, because the Russians had six months to dig in, and so those defensive belts that the Russians have put in place in the east, in the south, are hard. They’d be hard for any military to punch through," he explained.

According to the official, due to these circumstances, Ukraine spends significantly more artillery shells than its allies can provide, and this can prevent them from conducting combat operations and advancing within the limits of the counter-offensive.

Secondly, Kahl emphasised, the decision to provide cluster shells is not permanent but rather serves as a "bridge" until the US and its allies create sufficient capacity for the production of conventional 155-mm artillery shells.

"And the last point I will make is a strategic one. Vladimir Putin has a theory of victory. His theory of victory is that he’ll outlast everybody. He’ll outlast the Ukrainians, he’ll outlast the United States, he’ll outlast the Europeans, he’ll outlast the international community; he will simply brute force his way through this. Having failed in achieving a lightning[-fast] victory, he’s now going to play the long game," the under secretary added, noting that this cannot be allowed to happen.

"I’m as concerned about the humanitarian circumstance [of providing cluster munitions – ed.] as everybody, but the worst thing for civilians in Ukraine is for Russia to win the war, and so it’s important that they don’t," Kahl summed up.

The American side emphasised that the cluster munitions that Ukraine will receive have a ratio of unexploded submunitions below 2.35%, while those already used by Russia on the battlefield have a ratio of 30-40%, i.e., many times more dangerous for the population.

Background: 

• On Friday, 7 July, the United States announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine worth USD 800 million, which also includes so-called dual-purpose improved conventional munitions  (DPICM), or cluster munitions.
• Cluster munitions usually disperse a large number of submunitions, so they are considered more dangerous to the civilian population. These munitions also have an equally high percentage of failure, making them dangerous for years after the end of a conflict.
• In 2008, more than 120 countries adopted a treaty banning the production, use, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. The United States, Russia and Ukraine refused to join it.

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