Biden set to announce Ukraine weapons package that includes cluster munitionsThe Biden administration is expected to announce a new Ukraine weapons aid package tomorrow – and it will include cluster munitions, two US officials have told Reuters.
The weapons, which were first used during the second world war, typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets and are notorious for killing civilians.
They do not always explode, posing a future risk to civilians, and were banned by most of the world under a 2008 treaty called the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which the US, Russia and Ukraine did not sign.
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A group of former senior US national security officials have held secret talks with a number of prominent Russians, including foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, with the aim of laying the groundwork for potential negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, according to a report.
The Russian foreign minister met with members of the group for several hours in April in New York, sources told NBC News.
Present at the meeting were Richard Haass, a former diplomat and the outgoing president of the council on foreign relations, and Europe expert Charles Kupchan and Russia expert Thomas Graham, the report said.
The discussions have taken place with the knowledge of the Biden administration, but not at its direction, according to sources. The White House national security council was briefed after the meeting, they said.
At least one former US official has travelled to Russia for discussions involving the war in Ukraine, according to two sources. The meetings have reportedly involved individuals perceived as having Vladimir Putin’s ear or being close to Kremlin decision-makers, they said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly attended a meeting with a group of former senior US national security officials in April in New York. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty ImagesDeath toll from missile strike on Lviv rises to sixAt least six people were killed after a Russian missile slammed into a residential building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, far from the front line of the war, earlier today.
The roof and top floor of the building were destroyed in what the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, called the biggest attack of the war on civilian areas of Lviv since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year.
Sadovyi said the body of a woman was pulled from the rubble late Thursday, bring the death toll to six. The youngest was 21 years old and the oldest was a 95-year-old woman, according to Lviv province governor Maksym Kozytskyi.
Léonie Chao-Fong
The US is weighing whether to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday, amid calls from human rights groups for Kyiv and Moscow to stop using the controversial weapons.
What is a cluster bomb?
A cluster bomb is a weapon that breaks apart in the air and releases multiple explosive submunitions or “bomblets” across a wide area. They can be delivered by planes, artillery and missiles, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
How dangerous are they?
The bomblets are designed to detonate on hitting the ground, and anyone in that area is very likely to be killed or seriously injured. Beyond the initial damage caused by the munitions upon impact, many bomblets fail to detonate immediately. Up to 40% of bomblets have failed to explode in some recent conflicts, according to the ICRC.
As a result, cluster bombs, like landmines, pose a risk to civilians long after their use. Unexploded ordinance from cluster bombs can kill and maim people years or even decades after the munitions were fired.
Human rights groups say that the use of cluster bombs in populated areas is a violation of international humanitarian law because they cause indiscriminate destruction. Sixty per cent of cluster bomb casualties are people injured while undertaking everyday activities, according to Reuters. One third of all recorded cluster munitions casualties are children.
More than 120 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of the weapons. Russia, Ukraine and the US have all declined to sign the treaty. Since the adoption of the convention in 2008, 99% of global stockpiles have been destroyed, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Why does Ukraine want them?
Kyiv has been pushing for cluster bombs, arguing that the weapons would help in its counteroffensive by allowing its troops to target entrenched Russian positions and to overcome its disadvantage in manpower and artillery.
Until recently, Washington had resisted Kyiv’s calls, citing concerns about the weapons’ use and saying they were not necessary. However US officials have recently signalled a shift, and a senior Pentagon official said last month that the US military believes cluster munitions “would be useful, especially against dug-in Russian positions”.
But rights groups have called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster bombs, and urged the US not to supply the “inherently indiscriminate” munitions to Kyiv. “Cluster munitions used by Russia and Ukraine are killing civilians now and will continue to do so for many years,” said Mary Wareham, acting arms director at Human Rights Watch. “Both sides should immediately stop using them and not try to get more of these indiscriminate weapons.”
US officials have claimed that any munitions provided to Ukraine would have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that could later result in unintended civilian deaths.
The White House has declined to comment on reports that the Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has returned to Russia, despite a peace deal with the Kremlin under which Prigozhin had agreed to move to Belarus.
According to the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin is “in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus”.
Lukashenko added that the Wagner boss may be headed to Moscow and that Wagner fighters were stationed at their camps in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
The US will “continue to monitor the Wagner group”, CNN is quoting White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates as saying. He told reporters:
I do not have new details to provide about whereabouts or anything else concerning Prigozhin or the Wagner Group.”
The Biden administration has decided to provide cluster bombs to Ukraine, AP is reporting, citing sources familiar with the decision.
The US plans to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands of cluster munitions as part of a new weapons aid package to Kyiv worth about $800m, according to US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Zelenskiy arrives in PragueVolodymyr Zelenskiy has landed in the Czech capital Prague as part of a tour to drum up support for Ukraine’s fast track to Nato membership ahead of a summit of the alliance next week.
Zelenskiy landed in a Czech government plane, escorted by two air force jets, television footage showed. He was welcomed by his Czech counterpart, Petr Pavel.
Czech President Petr Pavel welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Prague. Photograph: ReutersPavel’s office said in a statement:
The visit of the Ukrainian president is intended to be an expression of appreciation for the support that the Czech Republic has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russian aggression, and to bring mutual assurance that this support will continue.
At the meeting, the presidents should coordinate their positions before the Nato summit in Vilnius, where it is expected to discuss, among other things, security guarantees for Ukraine.
Czech President Petr Pavel welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic. Photograph: ReutersUkrainian commander-in-chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said his country’s counteroffensive is “developing according to the plan” in a phone call with the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley.
In a Facebook post, Zaluzhnyi said he updated Milley on the situation at the frontline and that the pair “discussed the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in terms of weapon and ammunition”.
He wrote:
The Ukrainian servicemen continue to conduct active offensive actions. The situation is developing according to the plan, the initiative is in our hands.
He also thanked Milley for the continued US support for Ukraine and “congratulated the American people on the Independence Day of the United States”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has criticised a report by Human Rights Watch calling on both sides to stop using cluster bombs, accusing the rights group of “helplessness, spinelessness and absolute immorality”.
The rights group argued that transferring cluster bombs to Ukraine would inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians, amid reports the Biden administration is poised to include the controversial weapons in a new military aid package.
Posting to Twitter, Podolyak said the HRW was “launching an aggressive lobbying campaign” to disrupt the provision of weapons to Ukraine. “Is this a joke? Is it a prank?” he wrote.
Helplessness, spinelessness and absolute immorality, pettiness… @hrw. Again? Or is it time? Just think about it: absolutely insane Russian thugs are invading #Ukraine, unleashing a brutal genocidal war, killing civilians, organizing public executions, raping women, abducting…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) July 6, 2023 Léonie Chao-Fong
Human Rights Watch has called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster bombs, and urged the US not to supply the munitions to Kyiv, amid reports the Biden administration is poised to include the controversial weapons in a new military aid package.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have used cluster munitions that caused numerous civilian deaths and serious injuries, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday, calling on both sides to immediately stop using the “inherently indiscriminate” weapons.
Ukraine fired cluster munition rockets into Russian-controlled areas in and near the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium last year, causing many casualties among Ukrainian civilians, the rights group said, citing interviews with more than 100 residents, witnesses and local emergency personnel. The Ukrainian attacks killed at least eight civilians and wounded at least 15 civilians in Izium, it said.
The casing of a Russian cluster bomb rocket east of the port city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine in March. Photograph: Scott Peterson/Getty ImagesThe group has previously reported that Russia’s use of cluster bombs in Ukraine resulted in the deaths of scores of civilians, and the United Nations human rights council has also documented the use of such bombs by both sides.
“Cluster munitions used by Russia and Ukraine are killing civilians now and will continue to do so for many years,” said Mary Wareham, acting arms director at Human Rights Watch.
Both sides should immediately stop using them and not try to get more of these indiscriminate weapons.
Transferring cluster bombs to Ukraine would inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians, the group said. It warned that the use of cluster munitions in areas with civilians makes an attack indiscriminate in violation of international humanitarian law, and possibly a war crime.
Read the full story here.
SummaryThe time in Kyiv is coming up to 9pm. Here’s a summary of today’s events:
The Biden administration is set to announce a new Ukraine weapons aid package tomorrow – and it will include cluster munitions, two US officials have told Reuters. Speaking to the news agency on condition of anonymity, the officials said a weapons aid package that includes cluster munitions fired by a 155 millimetre Howitzer cannon is going to be announced tomorrow.
Human Rights Watch have called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the US not to supply them. Cluster munitions, which were first used in the second world war and are banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.
Romania is considering opening a regional training hub for F-16 fighter jet pilots which would ultimately be available to its Nato allies and partners, including Ukraine. “Romanian pilots operating F-16 planes will be trained here, and the facility will later be open to pilots from allied states and Nato partners, including Ukraine,” the country’s supreme defence council said.
President Zelenskiy will visit the Czech Republic tomorrow, to talk about defence support and the Vilnius Nato summit, before heading to Turkey on Friday for talks with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the Black Sea grain deal and developments in the war.
Ukraine and Bulgaria have agreed on more active cooperation in the defence sector. “We discussed the military aid which Bulgaria gives to our country. We count on the continuation of the cooperation which has already saved many lives,” Zelenskiy told a press conference in Sofia, where he met Bulgarian leaders, including prime minister Nikolai Denkov.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Bulgarian government building in Sofia, Bulgaria Photograph: Bulgarian Government/Reuters The Wall Street Journal also reported that Bulgaria is nearing an agreement to sell two Russian-made nuclear reactors and other critical equipment to Ukraine’s state-owned atomic energy company.
Ukrainian shelling killed one man on Thursday in the village of Novopetrovka in Russia’s Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.
Serhiy Lysak, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, reported that overnight the Nikopol region was struck three times by Russian forces.
The UK government has named Martin Harris as its new ambassador to Ukraine. Harris, who has worked for the British government in both Kyiv and Moscow, had most recently been the Foreign Office’s director for eastern Europe and central Asia.
Five people were killed in a Russian missile attack that hit an apartment building overnight. At least 36 others were hurt and seven people had to be pulled from the rubble by emergency services. The roof and top floor of the building were destroyed in what Lviv’s mayor called the biggest attack of the war on civilian infrastructure. Lviv is far from frontlines and home to thousands displaced by war.
Ukraine’s military spy chief has said that the threat of a Russian attack on the vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is receding, but that it could easily return as long as the facility remained under occupation by Moscow’s forces. The intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, made the comment in an interview with Reuters. “The threat is decreasing,” said Budanov, declining to give details of what had been done to reduce the threat or what it had consisted of. He made clear he believed the threat had only been postponed until later.
That’s it from me, Donna Ferguson, for now. Thanks for following along- I’ll leave you in the hands of my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong in the US news team.