KYIV: Ukraine has received cluster munitions, a military spokesperson said on Thursday, less than a week after the United States announced it would transfer such munitions to Ukrainian forces.

Valeryi Shershen, a spokesman for the Tavria military command in southern Ukraine, confirmed a CNN report citing the commander of the Tavria forces as saying Ukraine had just received cluster munitions but had not used them yet.

Cluster munitions are “in the hands of our defence forces,” Shershen told Ukrainian television but giving few details. US President Joe Biden said the decision was “very difficult” but stressed Ukraine needed extra ammunition to refill its depleted stocks.

The Kremlin has said it will take “countermeasures” if the weapon is deployed by Ukraine against its troops.

Kyiv claims downing 20 Russian drones, two cruise missiles

The US announced on July 7 that it would send Kyiv cluster munitions as part of an $800-million security package intended to ensure Russian forces that invaded Ukraine nearly 17 months ago cannot halt a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.

‘Successful air defences’

Ukraine said on Thursday it had downed 20 Russian attack drones and two cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed one and wounded at least four in the capital Kyiv.

“We have a successful air defence operation,” air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told national television.

“Twenty Shaheds were destroyed — all those flying were downed.” The 20 Iran-made Shahed attack drones were destroyed “mainly in the Kyiv region”, Ukraine’s air force said in a separate statement on Telegram.

The drones had “entered the capital from different directions”, Kyiv’s military administration said on Telegram earlier, adding air defences had destroyed “about a dozen” in the city’s airspace.

Falling debris was reported in five city districts, it said, adding that a 19-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man had been hospitalised with shrapnel wounds.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023