Video shows Ukraine launching US-provided cluster munitions against Russian infantry as the new weapon wreaks havoc

• A new video reportedly shows Ukraine launching cluster munitions against Russian infantry in the Donetsk Oblast.

• In the aerial video, bright points of light burst where the munitions explode across the battlefield.

• It’s a powerful visual of how controversial and devastating weapons work.

Earlier this month, the US announced a shipment of controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine. And now, a new video shows Kyiv is already making use of it — to devastating effects.

The footage, posted by the Ukraine war monitoring account OSINTdefender, reportedly shows the first use of cluster munitions near Krasnohorivka, a city west of Donetsk and just south of Bakhmut.

In the video, the bomblets released from the cluster bomb canister are launched across an area. The spots hit by munitions pop in bright light randomly, demonstrating the chaos of using cluster bombs on the battlefield.

When the US announced it’d be sending cluster bombs as a part of an $800 million package, American officials said the weapons would be a boon for Kyiv as it grapples with other munition shortages.

Despite their effectiveness, especially at clearing uncovered trenches and artillery lines, cluster munitions aren’t a silver bullet for Ukraine. Part of the problem is the individual dud rate of each bomblet, meaning the munition could fail to explode and become a landmine instead.

That issue has prompted more than 100 countries to ban the use of cluster bombs, and while the US has assured the munitions it sent to Ukraine had a dud rate of just 2.35%, Insider previously reported that analysis indicates the failure rate could be as high as 1o% to 30%.

Read the original article on Business Insider