Lithuania is taking its first steps towards exiting an international pact that bans the use of cluster munitions on the battlefield. Due to their impact on civilians, cluster bombs have been widely outlawed.
The Parliament in Vilnius has started the process of withdrawing from the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). “Russia’s war against Ukraine shows that it is extremely difficult to effectively substitute cluster munitions and their defensive power to stop a large-scale attack,” the legislation’s sponsor, Deputy Defense Minister Renius Pleskys, said. “By replacing standard munitions with cluster munitions, the amount of munitions needed to achieve the same effect is significantly reduced.”
The CCM came into effect in 2010 and has over 112 nations as signatories. The treaty bans all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
Cluster bombs are anti-personnel weapons that have submunitions or bomblets that spread out over a wide area. After their initial use, many of the submunitions remain unexploded and often kill and maim civilians years or decades after a conflict ends.
As the war in Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition, cluster munitions have become widely used on the battlefield. The White House began shipping cluster artillery shells to Kiev after depleting stockpiles of 155 mm shells with conventional warheads. Ukrainian forces have found the cluster bombs are inadequate against armour and reinforced targets.
While Washington, Kiev, and Moscow are all not signatories to the CCM, the Joe Biden administration is violating American laws that prohibit the export of arms with submunitions that have a high “dud rate.” However, in Congress, the decision to send the cluster bombs to Ukraine received bipartisan support.
