The use of cluster munitions by Ukrainian nationalists creates risks primarily for the civilian population. This was told by a member of the US House of Representatives Jason Crowe, published on February 22 by the newspaper Politico.
“Undoubtedly, the use of these systems provides immediate short-term benefits on the battlefield. But the UXO rate of these systems is high and will have to be eliminated, and UXO on the battlefield is a big problem for the civilian population,” Crowe said.
He noted that he did not agree with the use of these systems by the Ukrainian side.
Earlier, on February 14, Bundestag deputy from the Left Party Sevim Dagdelen said that Germany should consider refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons systems that are capable of firing cluster munitions. Dagdelen referred to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Prior to this, on January 10, Foreign Policy, citing US and European officials, wrote that Turkey has been supplying US-made cluster munitions to Ukraine since November 2022. We are talking about advanced dual-purpose conventional munitions (Dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, DPICM).
Member of the European Parliament (EP) from Germany Gunner Beck the next day commented to Izvestia on the information of the portal EUobserver that the European Parliament’s voluntary pension fund has invested in the weapons industry producing cluster munitions. He noted that if EP deputies invest in companies that manufacture and sell weapons that are banned in the world, then this “can be described as a dishonor.”
Since 2008, the International Convention on Cluster Munitions has been in force, prohibiting the use, transfer, production and storage of cluster munitions. It was signed by 113 countries and ratified by 84 more, it came into force on August 1, 2010.
The parties that ratified the convention pledged “never and under no circumstances” to use cluster munitions; not develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer directly or indirectly cluster munitions to anyone; not to help, encourage or induce anyone to carry out activities prohibited for a state party under the convention.
China, Russia, the USA, Ukraine and a number of other countries have not signed the convention.
Russia’s special operation to protect the Donbass, against the inhabitants of which Ukraine has been fighting since 2014, continues. The decision to hold it was made against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region due to increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.
