The Biden administration is deciding if they should provide cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Ukraine plans to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will be sending thousands of these munitions which will be part of a new $800 million military aid package.
This decision is raising some concerns about these cluster bombs being sent due to the fact they can cause civilian casualties. The Pentagon said they would plan on providing munitions with a “reduced dud rate” to help alleviate those concerns.
If you’re unaware of what a cluster bomb/munition is well let me break it down for ya ( no pun intended ) cluster bombs are weapons that open in the air, releasing submunitions, or “bomblets,” that are dispersed over a large area and are intended to wreak destruction on multiple targets at once.
Although at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he had no announcement to make about cluster munitions. Yet months prior the White House stated sending cluster munitions to Ukraine is "under active consideration" so which is it…
Officials are not authorized to publicly discuss the move before the official announcement this Friday.
Human Rights Watch called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the U.S. not to supply them. The group said that both Russian and Ukraine forces have used the weapons, which have killed Ukrainian civilians.
More than 120 countries have signed on to an international treaty banning the munitions. Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. have all to declined to sign the treaty.
We will keep you updated on this as we learn more.