What are cluster munitions, the widely prohibited weapons Biden is sending to Ukraine?

The munitions are launched using the same artillery that the United States and other Western nations have sent to Ukraine since the start of the war, including howitzers.

The United States has a stockpile of cluster munitions, but is last known to have used the weapons in battle in Iraq in 2003, according to the Associated Press.

The United States is not providing Ukraine with cluster bombs intended to be dropped from planes.

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published new evidence suggesting that Ukrainian forces have already injured civilians by use of cluster munitions — which Russian forces have used far more extensively, also causing civilian deaths.

Why is the United States providing them to Ukraine?

Facing diminishing Western stocks of artillery rounds and deeply entrenched Russian forces, Ukraine’s counteroffensive, intended to return the country to preinvasion borders, has progressed slower than Western officials had hoped.

Amid Ukrainian frustration over the West’s expectations in the absence of overriding artillery superiority and fighter jets that have yet to arrive, Zelensky has been pushing the American government for cluster munitions, claiming they are the most effective way for Ukrainian forces to push quickly though Russia’s expansive trenches and deadly minefields.

Biden approves cluster munition supply to Ukraine

Why are cluster munitions controversial?

More than 120 nations have joined a convention pledging not to use the weapons because of their indiscriminate nature. Not only do they fall over a very wide area — leading to potential civilian casualties during conflicts — but many submunitions fail to explode on impact. This means they can continue to kill or maim people long after a war has ended.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in 2010 that between 10 and 40 percent of ordinance released by cluster munitions used in recent conflicts failed to explode immediately, presenting a major threat to civilians.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions prevents the use, development, stockpiling or transfer of the munitions. However, Russia, Ukraine and the United States are not signatories to the agreement.

For the past seven years, Congress has stipulated that cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1 percent cannot be produced, used or transferred.

But the munitions in question, M864 artillery shell, dates back to 1987 — and may have a “dud” rate of 6 percent, according to the Pentagon’s last public assessment from over two decades ago. The Pentagon says it has more recent assessments of 2.35 percent or below — though that would still be above Congress’ limit.

In a report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch accused both Moscow and Kyiv of using the weapons since the February 2022 invasion, leading to deaths and serious injuries among civilians.

In one incident in the early days of the invasion, Ukrainian authorities and witnesses alleged Russian used the munitions in an attack on a train station that killed 50 people.

Train station strike in eastern Ukraine takes brutal toll on civilians

Mary Wareham, the acting arms director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the weapons “are killing civilians now and will continue to do so for many years.”

Who else uses cluster munitions?

Evidence suggests that Russia has used cluster munitions to a greater extent than Ukraine since invading the country last year.

Human rights organizations documented and heavily criticized the United States’ extensive use of cluster bombs during the initial years of the Afghanistan invasion.

Israel fired millions of cluster munitions into Lebanon in 2006, during a short conflict against Hezbollah, who also fired cluster munitions into Israel. The United Nations estimated that of the 4 million submunitions fired by Israel, up to 1 million remained unexploded at the end of the conflict, killing Lebanese civilians.

The munitions have been used by both Russian and Russian-backed Syrian forces in Syria, destroying cities like Aleppo and killing civilians during the country’s civil war.

Human Rights Watch documented Saudi Arabia’s use of U.S.-made cluster munition against Houthi rebels in Yemen, a move the group says leaves civilians in an already deadly region in added danger due to unexploded ordnance.

Karen DeYoung, Alex Horton, Missy Ryan, Claire Parker and William Neff contributed to this report.