WASHINGTON: The White House has said that Ukraine’s forces are using United States-supplied cluster munitions on the battlefield.
Washington provided cluster munitions to Kyiv for the first time earlier this month as its army attempts to dislodge the Russian military and retake land lost in the initial months of the war.
The statement from the White House comes at a time when Ukraine is trying to bolster its counteroffensive.
The munitions, which disperse up to several hundred small explosive charges that can remain unexploded in the ground, are prevented by many countries due to the long-term risks they pose to civilians.
John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman, told jounalists that Ukraine’s military started using the weapons “in the last week or so”, AFP reported.
He said that Ukraine was using them appropriately, effectively and it was actually having an impact on defensive formations and manoeuvring of Russia.
Moscow’s army still occupies areas of eastern and southern Ukraine and after a month into the long-awaited counteroffensive of Kyiv, large swathes of the front appear to be frozen.
Earlier this week a top presidential aide in Ukraine said that the counteroffensive would be “long and difficult”.
Russia targets Ukranian ports
Russia targeted the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv with drones and missiles in the third consecutive night of strikes, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.
At least three people died and more than twenty were wounded in the strikes, officials said, posting photos of buildings in flames and partially collapsed.
In Odesa, a man was found under the rubble, according to regional governor Oleg Kiper, while in Mykolaiv an elderly couple were killed.
Kyiv said on Thursday that it would treat ships in the Black Sea headed for Moscow-controlled ports as potential carriers of military cargo.
The announcement mirrored a move made by Moscow after Russia withdrew from an important grain export agreement facilitating the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea.
