The Ukrainians welcome the US decision to supply them with cluster munitions, believing that weakening Russian resistance in the current counteroffensive and saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians outweighs the potential risks.
The overwhelming danger to Ukrainians comes from Russian attacks both on the front line and against areas further awayas in the missile attack that claimed ten lives in Lviv on the 6th, as well as his actions in the occupied territories, commentators from the Ukrainian media and social networks widely agree.
The main idea is that the sooner and more effectively the invasion is repelled, the lower the loss of life among both civilians and soldiers, hundreds of thousands of whom donned military uniform for the first time after being drafted or volunteering to fight.
Cluster munitions are just one way to help achieve this, as Ukraine urgently needs long-range ATACMS missiles as wellOleksí Melnik, a military expert at the Razumkov Center think tank, told EFE.
Although cluster munitions can be dangerous with around 2% failing to explode and posing long-term risks, the risks diminish in importance when compared to other weapons used in Ukraine, with up to 30% of projectiles some cases do not explode, the expert explained. “Meanwhile, cluster munitions are a very efficient tool that could offset, at least in part, Russia’s air superiority,” Melnik stressed.