Cluster munitions delivered to Ukraine by the United States ended up in the hands of the Ukrainian army, which is already using them against Russian troops, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

“We’ve had some initial estimates from the Ukrainians, and they’re using them quite effectively,” Kirby said of the munitions, which Ukraine has promised to use only to dislodge concentrations of enemy forces.

US President Joe Biden announced two weeks ago that he had approved the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine, citing the fact that the Ukrainian military is short of conventional 155 mm rounds, and the US military does not have many such rounds in stock either. the American military industry can increase the production of these shells, Washington will supply Ukraine with scattering shells of the same caliber.

• VIDEO Ukrainian military appears to have tested cluster munitions received from the US during the Russian attack

On the other hand, American officials are concerned about the slow progress of the counteroffensive, which the Ukrainian army launched in early June to retake Russian-occupied territories. Russian troops have built several defensive lines with trenches, minefields and fortifications, in which cluster munitions can facilitate the breakthrough of the front.

Cluster (or cluster) munitions, particularly useful when attacking troops in trenches, detonate in the air above the target, releasing dozens of submunitions over a large area, but some do not explode and become a long-term threat to the population. civil as well as mines.

Russian Defense Minister Serhiy Shoigu said that after the delivery of American cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian army will be forced to resort to “similar” methods of attack, assuring that it has enough of such munitions.

But even before the US statement about sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, both Russian and Ukrainian troops used such munitions in the war started by Russia last year. (Agerpress)