The Ukrainian military has been using the controversial, U.S.-provided cluster munitions “effectively” while sticking to their promise to employ them exclusively in areas where Russian troops are amassed in occupied territories, a Biden administration official said Thursday.
“They are using them appropriately,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “They’re using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia’s defensive formations and Russia’s defensive maneuvering.”
Before supplying the cluster bombs, the U.S. demanded they not be used inside Russia to avoid escalating the war. Ukraine provided such assurances at a security forum in Vienna this week, amid reports that the munitions had already been launched to blast Russian troops out of heavily fortified positions along the war’s front lines.
“Ukraine remains fully committed to its obligations under international law,” said Natalia Kostenko, who represented Kyiv at the forum. “Cluster munitions will not be used on the internationally recognized territory of Russia.”
The Ukraine media outlet Ukrinform.net quoted Kostenko saying the military command was carefully assessing the “potential risks” to the civilian population.
President Joe Biden’s decision this month to provide Ukrainian troops with the weapons ignited condemnation from some NATO allies and even fellow Democrats in Congress. The White House said the bombs were needed because of a shortage of conventional artillery ammunition. Many NATO nations signed a treaty prohibiting the use of cluster munitions because they disperse smaller “bomblets” that can explode later and remain deadly for decades.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine days ago that use of the weapons could result in unspecified “reciprocal action” from Russian forces. Western officials say Russia already uses cluster bombs, which Russia denies. Neither Ukraine, Russia nor the U.S. has signed the ban treaty.
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Developments:
◾European low-cost airline Ryanair said Thursday it plans to invest more than $3 billion to help rebuild Ukraine’s aviation industry after the war, and it committed to restoring service to and from the country within eight weeks of Ukrainian air space reopening.
◾The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Pakistan called Thursday for the restoration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to ensure global food security. Russia shut down the deal Monday. Pakistan is a major importer of Ukraine grain.
◾Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov, who renounced his citizenship late last year, was dropped from United Kingdom sanctions lists. British billionaire Richard Branson was among those lobbying on behalf of Tinkov, who was not sanctioned by the U.S.
◾The Belarusian military and members of the mercenary Wagner Group will hold four days of joint training in the region of Belarus near the Polish border, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced.
◾Intensified Russian attacks across several provinces, including the southern Odesa region for a third night in a row, killed at least five people and wounded 38 over a 24-hour period, Ukraine authorities said Thursday.
US sanctions seek to restrict Russian access to war supplies, funding
Two months after Group of Seven leaders tightened sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. attempted to increase the pressure with a fresh series of restrictions announced Thursday.
The new sanctions imposed by the Treasury and State departments impact about 120 companies and individuals from Russia to the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan in an attempt to limit the Kremlin’s resources for funding the war. The U.S. is also trying to curtail Moscow’s access to technology and the global financial system, as well as its ability to manufacture weapons.
Dozens of Russian mining, technology and munitions companies and five commercial banks are affected by the sanctions, in addition to an engineering firm in the UAE and several Kyrgyzstan-based electronics firms suspected of helping the Kremlin evade sanctions.
“Today’s actions represent another step in our efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities, its access to battlefield supplies and its economic bottom line,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
Also Thursday, the European Union imposed new measures that ban member nations from exporting to Iran materials commonly used to manufacture attack drones.
Ukraine military leader admits disappointment with gains
The leader of Ukraine’s ground forces admitted Thursday that his country’s much-anticipated counteroffensive is not gaining back seized Russian territory as quickly as he had hoped.
Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces are moving forward about a half-mile daily while encountering Russian forces that have dug in along the eastern front near Bakhmut and other hotly contested cities and towns.
“The entire large territory is fortified in terms of engineering,” Syrskyi said. “There are many strong points. Therefore, all advances are really not going as fast as we would like.”
Syrskyi said Russia has an overwhelming advantage in troops and ammunition. But he said his military is successful because it plans operations very carefully.
“Every operation is well thought out. Each day of such offensive actions is planned in detail, so we have much fewer losses in personnel,” Syrskyi said. “Every day we move forward.”
Earlier this week, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been slowed by the Russians’ complex system of defenses erected over several months. But he said the troops manning those lines are poorly trained and equipped and suffer from poor leadership and morale.
Milley said it’s too early to assess the counteroffensive but added that “it’s far from a failure in my view.”
Putin warns UkrainePutin warns Ukraine on use of cluster munitions supplied by US: Live updates
EU policy chief says Russia creating global food crisis
Russia has triggered a major global food supply crisis by suspending the Black Sea Grain Initiative and by bombing Ukraine’s grain storage facilities, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters Thursday at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The ministers met to discuss their support for Ukraine, including a proposal to spend up to $22 billion on weapons, ammunition and other military aid over four years.
“There is only one solution: to increase military support to Ukraine,” Borrell said. “If they are being bombed, we have to provide anti-aerial capacity. If Russia is using drones, we have to provide (Ukraine) with anti-aerial capacity.”
EU governments also are considering a plan to provide 55 billion euros in economic aid to Ukraine over the same four-year period.
Russia could be preparing to attack civilian ships, White House warns
The White House warned that the Russian military could be preparing to attack civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea. Since leaving the Black Sea grain agreement this week, Russia has hammered Ukraine’s grain ports with missiles and drones. An estimated 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed in the attacks.
“Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
The British Defense Ministry, in its latest assessment of the war, said the Russian Black Sea Fleet will likely take a more active role in disrupting any trade that continues, but that those blockade operations will be at risk from Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles and cruise missiles.
Contributing: The Associated Press
