Controversial cluster bombs provided to Ukraine by the US

The United States will be sending cluster munitions package to Ukraine in a new bid to help in its counteroffensive against Russia. 

The decision for these bombs to be sent has been postponed for “as long as I could,” the WhiteHouse explained, because of the risk of civilian harm from such unexploded ordnance, 

Weapons of this sort have been wanted by Ukraine for months, especially amid "an ammunition shortage."

These cluster munitions are a class of weapons that contain multiple explosive bomblets called submunitions, and are banned by more than 100 countries.

“It was a very difficult decision on my part to send the bombs,” US President Joe Biden said in a TV interview on Friday. Biden told CNN that, discussion was held between allies, and was agreed upon after the Ukrainians started to run out of ammunition.

However, this does not mean it is less of a controversial decision by Biden as he might still face questions from allies about the matter at a Nato summit in Lithuania next week.

In a news briefing, the Pentagon did not specify how many many cluster munitions the US will send to Ukraine.

“Hundreds of thousands available,” spokesman Colin Kahl told media when asked.

US media is also reporting that officials are planning to send artillery shells to Ukraine, with each containing 88 separate bomblets.

In order to send the cluster munitions, President Biden will be making an exception to a US law prohibiting such transfer.

These would be fired from Howitzer artillery weapons already deployed by the Ukrainian army. 

The law surrounds the transfer of cluster munitions with bomblet failure rates higher than 1%. This means more than 1% of the bomblets in the weapon do not explode.

A United Nations investigation found Ukraine has probably already used cluster bombs, even though the country has denied doing so. 

When Russia was using cluster bombs at the beginning of the invasion, then-press secretary Jen Psaki said it is a "war crime" if true.