2023-07-14 13:37:00
The Pentagon announced this Thursday (13) that the cluster bombs that the United States promised Ukraine in support of its offensive against Russia are already in the European country.
Lieutenant Douglas Sims, director of operations for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed in a telephone news conference that the munitions arrived at their destination.
On July 7, the United States announced the deployment of cluster bombs, despite criticism from Germany and other countries and from organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HWR), concerned about the impact of this weapon on the civilian population.
These bombs were included in a new $800 million military aid package, which also includes missiles for air defense, Stinger anti-aircraft systems and ammunition for Patriot anti-aircraft systems, among others.
As US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said last week, cluster bombs serve to ensure artillery supplies throughout the coalition supporting Kiev.
Washington claimed at the time that cluster bombs sent to Ukraine have a failure rate of less than 2.5%.
This data is justified because the main criticism of the use of this type of weapon is the fact that the projectile disperses a large number of explosive submunitions and many of them do not explode and end up buried in the ground, where they can seriously injure civilians after the end of a war.
Confirmation that these bombs are already on Ukrainian territory comes a day after NATO ended its summit in Vilnius.
NATO has not set a specific timetable for Ukraine’s integration into the Atlantic Alliance, but US President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders signed a declaration pledging to ensure Ukraine’s long-term security.
As part of that meeting, in which Biden had a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky, the American said that he is considering authorizing the sending of long-range Atacms missiles to Ukraine, which cover a distance of around 300 kilometers, greater than the French SCALP missiles and the British Storm Shadow.
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