Ukraine receives cluster munitions, promises limited use

KYIV, July 13 (Reuters) – Ukraine received cluster bombs from the United States, munitions banned in more than 100 countries, but vowed to use them only to clear concentrations of enemy soldiers.

Valeryi Shershen, spokesman for the Tavria, or southern, military district, confirmed on Thursday an announcement by its commander that the weapons had arrived a week after the United States said it would send them as part of an $800 million security package. .

The Pentagon also announced his arrival.

Moscow has denounced its shipment. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned on Thursday that Russia could resort to deploying similar weapons if faced with their use.

Ukrainian officials say their deployment is justified in view of Russia’s mining of vast tracts of land it has seized.

Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive more than 500 days after the start of the war, focusing on capturing clusters of villages in the southeast and retaking areas around the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured by Russian forces in May after months of fighting.

“This will further demotivate the Russian occupation forces and fundamentally turn things around in favor of the Ukrainian armed forces,” Shershen told US-funded Radio Liberty.

The munitions, he said, would be used strictly within the legal framework, “only for the evacuation of our territories.

“They will not be used on Russian territory… They will be used only in areas where Russian military forces are concentrated to break through enemy defenses.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reaffirmed Ukraine’s guarantees during a NATO summit on Wednesday.

Cluster munitions typically release large numbers of smaller minibombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that do not explode pose a danger for decades.

Each side has accused the other of using cluster bombs in the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Human Rights Watch says that both Moscow and kyiv have used cluster munitions. Russia, Ukraine and the US have not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of weapons.

Spain and Canada have opposed the decision to send the munitions to Ukraine, while Britain said it was part of a convention that discourages the use of the weapons. Some US Democratic lawmakers also increase your concerns

Ukrainian military analyst Oleskander Musiyenko said he assumed the weapons would be used in the south since the commander of that area had announced their arrival.

“We can say that it is in the south that it is planned to drill and destroy the fortifications of the enemy defense line,” Musiyenko told Ukrainian television. “I think cluster munitions will expand the capabilities of our troops.”

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops were advancing in the south, forcing enemy forces to redeploy. Near Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops made gains south of the city, but faced more difficulties to the north.

Russian accounts of the fighting said that their forces had repelled 16 Ukrainian attacks in the eastern Donetsk region alone.

Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv Newsroom; Edited by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and Michael Perry

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