Cluster Munitions Are Biden’s Latest Slow-Roll on Ukraine Aid

Excerpt

As it pushes to liberate its territory, Ukraine is asking the United States for a controversial weapon: cluster munitions. These projectiles scatter small bomblets over a wide area and are thus much more effective than single artillery rounds for killing infantry and destroying armored vehicles. As a senior U.S. Defense Department official testified to Congress on Thursday, these munitions could help Ukraine clear Russian trenches and other obstacles to Kyiv’s counteroffensive. They would also ease Ukraine’s shortage of traditional artillery ammunition.

Ukraine’s request has also set off opposition. Earlier this month, a coalition of prominent U.S. nongovernmental organizations published an open letter urging President Joe Biden to reject the request, noting that cluster munitions can kill or maim civilians who might encounter any unexploded bomblets. Kyiv understands this risk to its own citizens but counters with a compelling point of its own: These weapons would help defeat the Russian occupiers, who objectively pose a much deadlier threat to Ukrainian civilians than unexploded ammunition. After weighing the pros and cons, Kyiv has decided the former outweigh the latter. That’s the Ukrainians’ call to make.

John Hardie is deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan research institute. Follow him on Twitter @JohnH105.