A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, which could help break through fortified Russian lines that are hampering the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
This was reported by Foreign Policy.
In a letter sent to the US president, the lawmakers urged the White House to provide Ukraine with advanced dual-purpose conventional munitions, better known by the acronym DPICM, to help in the ongoing counteroffensive.
This weapon can be used to fire artillery pieces and scatter up to 88 bombs on the battlefield. This could help Ukraine break through Russian tanks and dug-in positions. However, if left unexploded, the munitions could continue to kill and maim civilians long after the fighting has subsided.
– During the Cold War, DPICMs were developed specifically to counter Russia’s numerical and material superiority. Now they can be used as intended to protect Ukraine – and Ukraine’s defense of Europe, and ultimately U.S. national security, lawmakers say.
Military analysts who favor sending weapons to Ukraine believe that DPICM could help solve Ukraine’s artillery shortage.
Other experts say that sending cluster munitions would undermine international arms control regimes, including the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which aims to prevent the global spread of these controversial munitions that scatter explosive bombs over large areas.
However, neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the convention. U.S. law currently prohibits the export of DPICMs.
However, the publication points out that the Biden administration seems to be leaning toward the possible provision of such weapons to Ukrainians.
Earlier, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had recaptured more territory in the summer than Russia occupied in the winter.
Source: Foreign Policy