Media: Ankara transfers cluster munitions of the end of the last century to Kiev Cold War-era cluster munitions were handed over to Ukraine by Turkey, according to media reports.
Repeated attempts to obtain supplies of these shells from the United States proved unsuccessful for Kiev. At the same time, Ankara tried to hide its actions. DPICM shells are designed to destroy armored vehicles, but they can also be used for firing infantry. The UN reported that cluster munitions in Ukraine are used by both sides.
DPICM cluster-type artillery ammunition was transferred to Ukraine by Turkey. This is reported with reference to officials in Europe and America by Foreign Policy magazine.
The shells were manufactured during the Cold War in Turkey - under an agreement with the United States, where these munitions were invented. Ukraine tried to get supplies of cluster shells from the States directly, but it was refused due to an internal ban on the export of such weapons.
Turkey and the United States are not parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits their use, increasing stocks and transfer to other States.
Experts interviewed by FT also expressed fears that the use of DPICM could make Ukraine a minefield for many years - since parts of cluster shells often do not explode and lie in the ground for many years, posing a deadly danger.
In September, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the West of supplying Ukraine with "scrap metal and old weapons." He expressed the opinion that the position of Western countries in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is "erroneous", because their actions only inflame the conflict. According to him, Ankara adheres to a "balanced policy" and stands for a ceasefire.
DPICM (Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition - translated into Russian - Advanced conventional dual-use ammunition) shells are intended for the destruction of armored vehicles. However, they also show high efficiency when firing infantry in fortified positions.
The principle of operation of DPICM does not differ from other cluster munitions - they carry in their warhead a cassette with a lot of smaller ammunition attached to it. When the cassette explodes, it scatters small exploding parts over a large area.
In early December, CNN reported that the White House has been studying Kiev's request for the supply of cluster munitions for several months. The channel's sources said that Washington considers the supply of such weapons to be an extreme measure. The US authorities are not seriously considering this possibility yet, the CNN interlocutors added.
The use of cluster bombs and shells
In August 2022, the UN, citing the Cluster Munitions Coalition, reported that Russian troops had "used this dangerous weapon hundreds of times" since the outbreak of hostilities.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. 120 states have signed the Treaty, but about 110 countries - including China, India, Brazil, and the United States - have not joined the signatories.As of 2022, both the Russian Federation and Ukraine were armed with cluster shells for Smerch and Uragan rocket launchers.
According to statistics, out of 7 thousand charges fired during one full salvo, about 2-5% do not explode, but in some cases up to 30% of bombs may remain unexploded.
Cluster shells were used by the British in the Falklands War, Israel during the Second Lebanon War, Azerbaijan and Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the United States in the Vietnam War, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as Yugoslavia. According to the International Red Cross, in Laos, more than 10 thousand people were victims of unexploded American cluster bombs.
Ivan Zhukovsky
