The White House on the eve announced the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, the share of unexploded elements in which should not exceed 2.35%. However, according to The New York Times (NYT), the probability of refusal of cluster munitions prepared for transfer to Kyiv may exceed 14%.
According to the publication, at a briefing for journalists on July 7, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said that the shells being prepared for transfer to Ukraine were tested five times between 1998 and 2020, but noted that their name was classified. However, the newspaper claims that the testing period is consistent with the M864 ammunition, and they are similar to those used by the US army in operations in Iraq in the early 1990s.
According to the publication, the M864 shells, like the Iraqi version, are 155-millimeter caliber ammunition, they include 72 small shells. The rate of unexploded ordnance in such ammunition was previously described by the Pentagon as “unacceptably high”, and their production was discontinued in 1996.
Retired US Army Colonel Al Vosburg told the publication that after the cessation of the use of these munitions, the Ukrainian authorities will have to warn the population about the risks of interacting with unexploded ordnance, which can be scattered over an area up to 20 miles (32.19 km) from the target. “It will take a lot of effort to clear them because they can’t be moved either,” Vosburg added.
The transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine on July 7 was announced by National Security Adviser to US President Joe Biden Jake Sullivan.
He stressed that Washington recognizes the existence of risks for the civilian population when using such shells, so the United States postponed the decision to transfer them.
Source: Rosbalt
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