2023-08-17 13:05:00
Ukraine’s counter-offensive gradually advances with the help of cluster bombs
Ukrainian soldiers with the Ukrainian flag in Urozhaine, Donetsk Region, Ukraine, in this screenshot obtained from video released on August 16. (Credit: Ukrainian Armed Forces/Archyde.com)
Ukrainian marines advanced for the second time in two weeks on the south-eastern fronts, towards the key port city of Mariupol, and the recapture of the village of Urozhaine appears to have been facilitated in part by the Ukrainian use of controversial cluster bombs.
Drone footage of the intense fighting for the village has emerged showing dozens of Russian troops fleeing south of the village. They appear to be bombarded as they flee, sometimes with what appear to be cluster bombs, according to two weapons experts who reviewed videos of the incidents. The experts did not want to be identified as it is a sensitive issue.
Dykyi, the callsign of an assault company commander, referred to the Russian flight: “Many died, especially when they started running.”
The videos show dozens of Russian troops running down an open road, apparently forced to use asphalt as adjacent fields and trees had been mined. Dykyi said. The Russians also assembled in large numbers in houses which were later hit by artillery.
“Many died there,” Dykyi said, adding that mortars and tanks were used in the escape. He declined to comment on the use of cluster bombs.
Videos from the drones also showed a Ukrainian tank charging solo into Russian positions, firing and dragging behind it a wire attached to explosive mine deactivators. The charges detonate as the tank moves away from the engagements, ensuring the clear advance of subsequent units through minefields that have inflicted heavy losses.
The supply of cluster bombs to the Ukrainian army was preceded by a great ethical debate within the Biden government, according to US officials. Although brutally effective against infantry in the open, these weapons spread small explosive droplets that often fail to detonate and can pose a residual danger to civilians for decades.
More than 100 countries have banned the use of cluster bombs through a treaty, although Ukraine, Russia and the United States are not signatories to that international treaty.
The US military claims that the models it supplies to Ukraine have an improved “failure” rate, as only 2.5% of them fail to detonate upon dispersal, a claim critics regard as skeptical. By comparison, Western officials claim that Russian cluster bombs, which were also used during the invasion of Ukraine, have a 30% failure rate.
The Ukrainian military confirmed the use of US weapons at the front, but declined to give further details. CNN was unable to confirm that the devices identified by experts as probable cluster bombs in the Urozhaine videos were US-supplied weapons. Ukraine is believed to have manufactured a number of similar devices in its own country that could be in use at the front.
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