They say objections to using them are "militarily dangerous, legally misleading and morally questionable, drawing a false equivalence between Russian and Ukrainian use cases."Įssentially, they say Ukraine's use is less ethically problematic, because they would be used in open countryside against Russian forces, and on their own territory. Ms Docherty said that children are the most common victims, because they're inclined to pick up unexploded bombs and play with them.īut Dr Jack Watling and Professor Justin Bronk, from the Royal United Services Institute, argue the threat to civilians is "negligible" considering how many minefields Russia has already laid down in Ukraine. "They cause civilian casualties at the time of attack because they cannot discriminate between soldiers and civilians." rationale for transferring them weak on multiple fronts," she said. "Having witnessed the gruesome impact of cluster munitions first-hand, I find the U.S. The UK is one of those countries - but Russia, Ukraine and the US have not signed it.Īnnouncing the US would send cluster munitions to Ukraine, President Joe Biden called it a "difficult decision" but said he had to act as "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition".Īt the time, Bonnie Docherty, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Watch's Arms Division, warned the decision would "exacerate a humanitarian crisis." More than 100 countries have signed a protocol to not use them. While cluster bombs are not illegal under international law when used on military targets, using them on civilians is a war crime. Military expert Professor Michael Clarke has previously told Sky News cluster munitions are "on the border between conventional bombs and landmines". If Denis Pushilin's claims are confirmed, it would mark a fairly significant moment in Ukraine's use of the hugely controversial weapons. Let's get a bit more on our previous post - the Kremlin-backed official's claims that Ukrainian cluster bombs have killed a civilian in occupied Donetsk. "He hopes western support will be throttled by a Trump victory.” "Putin’s strategy in the Ukraine war is clearly to delay any military outcome until the US elections," he said. Mr Grozev also touches on the Russian president's longer-term strategy, provided he can't win the war any time soon. "I’m agnostic between the two but I can’t see neither of these happening. Mr Grozev predicted: "In six months, Prigozhin will either be dead or there will be a second coup. He wants to see him dead he can’t do that yet." "Everyone knows what they do with ‘traitors’, and Putin hasn’t done that. #Running with rifles controls tv"Putin went on TV and called Prigozhin a traitor," he says. Speaking to the Financial Times, Bellingcat's lead Russia investigator Christo Grozev had a stark prediction. It's raised eyebrows when other critics who have merely criticised the Kremlin, like Alexei Navalny, have been sentenced to decades in penal colonies. Prigozhin was supposedly exiled to Belarus by Vladimir Putin - but has since been photographed back in St Petersburg, at a summit between the Kremlin and African leaders. One of the most perplexing moments of the war so far has been the Yevgeny Prigozhin-led mutiny by Wagner mercenaries, that was called off almost as quickly as it started.
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