Cluster munitions: US moral dilemma and Ukraine's temporary advantage

The Washington Post offers an analysis by Ishaan Tharoor, speaking about the moral dilemma of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine.

In recent days, Ukraine has employed cluster munitions, provided by the US. While Ukrainian forces seek to reclaim lost territory, Russia's strikes on Ukrainian cities have escalated, making Odesa, a vital grain hub, a target. Despite challenges, Ukraine's determined brigades, supported by Western armored vehicles, are striving to breach entrenched Russian lines. 

Minefields are a major obstacle to the Ukrainian counteroffensive

“Russia’s strongholds in the east and south have been densely mined with antitank and antipersonnel mines and trip wires in areas from three to 10 miles deep. The defenses have been successful in stalling Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began about a month ago,” journalists reported. “A Ukrainian official told The Washington Post that the [cluster] munitions have been fired at Russian positions to break up the trenches.”

The article notes that Ukraine has now become the world's most heavily mined country, with roughly 70,000 square miles of territory contaminated by unexploded ordnance. Clearing this hazardous aftermath may take decades and significant financial investment, and the introduction of new cluster munitions will only deepen the problem.

“Cluster munitions could bring Kyiv a temporary battlefield advantage,” wrote Odesa-based analyst Michael Bociurkiw.“Once the war is over, however, the potentially deadly legacy of these indiscriminate weapons will remain embedded in Ukrainian soil for years to come.”

Read also: Cluster munitions: challenges, characteristics, and frontline benefits

Meanwhile, US officials stress their commitment to aiding Ukraine in demining efforts and clearing areas contaminated by cluster munitions, with the Ukrainian government pledging not to deploy these bombs in populated regions. 

“They will record the places that they use them, and they will prioritize demining efforts, and we’ll help them do that in those places where they have used these,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said. 

Cluster munitions are helping Kyiv hold the line 

It is well-known that the Biden administration deliberated for months before agreeing to supply cluster munitions, a decision that drew criticism from European nations, US allies, human rights groups, and some US Democrats due to their significant impact on civilians.

However, Ukraine itself requested these munitions as it faces depletion of the arsenals, and cluster bombs help Kyiv hold the line, at least for the time being. 

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also justifies the decision, emphasizing that supporting Ukraine's defense is crucial for preserving moral authority.

“Our moral authority and Ukraine’s moral authority in this conflict comes from the fact that we are supporting a country under a brutal, vicious attack by its neighbor with missiles and bombs raining down in its cities, killing its civilians, destroying its schools, its churches, its hospitals. And the idea that providing Ukraine with a weapon in order for them to be able to defend their homeland, protect their civilians, is somehow a challenge to our moral authority — I find questionable,” he said. 

• On July 24, CNN wrote that Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has announced that this week he will submit a report to the Pentagon on the use of DPICM cluster munitions provided by the United States