The US plans to provide Ukraine with a new batch of cluster munitions that help Ukraine’s Armed Forces conduct counteroffensive operations in the south and repel Russian attacks in the east, according to the New York Times.
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions.
One of the unnamed US officials told the New York Times that cluster munitions are vital to helping Ukraine’s Armed Forces maintain the momentum gained during a counteroffensive on the southern front.
Western officials and experts agree that cluster munitions are most effective against Russian infantry and convoys of vehicles dispersed in open terrain.
“For now, Ukrainian forces say the arrival of American cluster munitions had not only raised morale, but also helped to pick apart Russian defensive positions in the south, keep pressure on Russian troops in the east and hold back Russian assaults in the northeast,” the New York Times wrote.
Apart from the offensive operations, cluster munitions helped Ukraine repel Russian attacks on Kupiansk in the Kharkiv Oblast (eastern Ukraine), where Ukrainian troops used these munitions in defense more than offense.
Heavy fighting in Kupiansk goes on, but Ukraine is holding the line, and “cluster munitions have indeed played a major role” in Ukrainian ability to repel Russian attacks, according to the New York Times.
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