The White House reported that Ukrainian forces are allegedly using cluster munitions on the battlefield. The United States supplied these munitions as Kyiv attempts to gain momentum for its arduous counteroffensive.
White House Ukraine using US cluster: For the first time this month, Washington gave the weapons to Ukraine as Kiev tries to push back firmly established Russian forces and reclaim territory lost in the initial few months of Moscow’s incursion last year.
Many nations prohibit the use of these weapons due to the long-term dangers they represent to civilians. The weapons can distribute up to several hundred small explosive charges that may remain undetonated in the ground.
According to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, the Ukrainian
He claimed that they were responsibly and successfully using them, and that they were having an effect on Russia’s defensive formations and defensive maneuvers.
Kyiv’s eagerly awaited counteroffensive has been ongoing for over a month, but vast portions of the front remain frozen, and Moscow’s forces continue to hold large portions of southern and eastern Ukraine.
An important presidential advisor earlier Ukrainian week told AFP that the operation will be “long and difficult” in Kyiv.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russia carried out a third night of “hellish” strikes against the Ukrainian ports of Mykolaiv and Odesa using drones and missiles.
army began employing the weapons “in the last week or so.”
“Fatal Impacts in Southern Ukraine: Three Dead and Over Twenty Injured Amidst Collapsed Structures”
According to officials who posted pictures of burning and partially collapsed structures, the impacts resulted in at least three fatalities and more than twenty injuries.
Oleg Kiper, the regional governor, made a report stating that they found a man “under the rubble” in Odesa and that an elderly couple was killed in Mykolaiv.
Oleksiy Luganchenko, 72, identified the dead pair as his sister and her husband when he was standing outside a collapsed building in the city. Who requires this war? said Luganchenko.
“I had advised them to leave, and now they have passed away.”
On Thursday, Kiev announced its readiness to handle ships in the Black Sea bound towards ports under Russian control, considering them potential transporters of military supplies.
The announcement followed a step taken by Russia after the Kremlin withdrew from a crucial grain export agreement that had allowed the secure transport of Ukrainian grain over the Black Sea.
“Retaliatory attacks”
Following its invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia’s warships blockaded the country’s ports until the two parties ratified a grain export agreement mediated by Turkiye and the UN.
This made it possible to export more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain in the previous year, providing help to nations like Yemen, Afghanistan, and Sudan who were suffering from severe food shortages.
On Monday, Moscow announced its withdrawal from the agreement after protesting for months that rules allowing the export of Russian food and fertiliser had not been upheld. Ukraine has charged Russia with targeting grain supplies and critical infrastructure for grain shipments ever since the accord fell through.
According to the Ukrainian agriculture ministry, a strike on Odesa damaged 60,000 tonnes of grain destined for export from the large worldwide producer.
According to a statement from Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, “We are already seeing the negative effect on global wheat and maize prices which hurts everyone, but especially vulnerable people in the global south.”
Despite Russian threats, Ukraine has already stated that it is prepared to keep exporting grains from its southern ports. It has urged the UN and surrounding nations to conduct combined patrols to ensure the safe transit of cargo.
slow development
According to the governor imposed by Moscow, a Ukrainian drone strike killed a teenage girl and damaged four administrative buildings in Crimea.
It happened the day after a mysterious fire broke out at a military installation and earlier this week, someone attacked the only bridge that connected the annexated peninsula to the rest of Russia.
Using sea-based drones, Ukrainian soldiers attacked the Kerch bridge, a security source told AFP.
Fighting is primarily occurring in eastern Ukraine, as Kiev’s counteroffensive is advancing slowly towards Russia’s defensive lines.
According to the governor imposed by Moscow, a Ukrainian drone strike killed a teenage girl and damaged four administrative buildings in Crimea.
The assault on our community may have paused, the plant’s director, 34-year-old Sergiy Dmytrenko, told AFP.
Perhaps this is their new strategy.