The US President Joe Biden administration's decision to send ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles with cluster munitions to Ukraine disregards the longstanding human suffering caused by these indiscriminate weapons, Titus Peachey, a member of the US Cluster Munition Coalition Steering Committee and former chair of Legacies of War, told Sputnik.
Peachey acknowledged that deploying cluster munitions violates international humanitarian law because they cannot differentiate between military targets and civilians. He further characterized the dangers of their use. Experts from GLOBSEC, in conjunction with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, have determined that nearly 30 percent of Ukraine's landmass is marred by mines and unexploded ordnance. This has tragically transformed once thriving areas into zones of apprehension and danger.
"First, they are difficult to target precisely, creating a large 'footprint' of harm that often includes civilians. Second, many do not explode on impact but persist over time, maiming and killing whoever disturbs them long after wars end," the expert noted.
Peachey made it clear that cluster bombs carried by ATACMS are hazardous to civilians because they are small and carry 950 submunitions in their warheads. They pose a particularly insidious threat to the civilian population as they can easily blend into the environment. He stressed that the ATACMS missiles dispatched to Ukraine significantly elevate the risk of unexploded ordnance, establishing a long-term peril necessitating extensive measures for safe destruction.
This week, the White House confirmed the delivery of ATACMS with a range of 165 kilometers to Ukraine. Despite the US government’s reluctance to address the delivery publicly, sources privy to the matter confirmed that Ukraine has received less than a dozen missiles in the last few days.
President Vladimir Putin criticized the recent decision made by the United States at a Beijing summit, labeling it “another mistake by the United States.”
Nevertheless, Putin contended that such weapons transfers could "prolong their agony." ATACMS "cannot drastically change the situation along the line of contact. It is impossible.”