The United States is reportedly set to announce today the inclusion of cluster munitions in its next Ukraine military aid package. Cluster munitions are designed to release many smaller bombs over a wide area, meaning they are indiscriminate in the casualties they can cause, especially in urban areas. In addition, the submunitions do not always immediately explode, posing a further risk to civilians in the future.
The use of cluster munitions is banned by international law by a 2008 Convention which has been signed by a large number of countries around the world. Russia and Ukraine are currently non-signatories, as is the United States which, along with Russia, is still a producer of cluster munitions according to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.
According to the Monitor, "Russia has used cluster munitions extensively since invading Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces appear to have used them at least three times in the war". Citing interviews with more than 100 residents of Russian-controlled areas in and around the city of Izium, Human Rights Watch claims that the Ukraine military used cluster munition rockets there last year, resulting in the deaths of at least 8 civilians. This use of cluster munitions was also described as "likely" in a March 2023 United Nations report.
Research conducted last year by the Guardian in Bucha, Hostomel and Borodianka in Ukraine unearthed evidence of Russian use of cluster munitions. Some of the pictures collected in these areas were analyzed by Bellingcat, a nonprofit online journalism collective "dedicated to war crime investigations", and purportedly prove that "Russian troops had used cluster munitions, cluster bombs and extremely powerful unguided bombs in populated areas, which have destroyed at least eight civilian buildings".
