Are cluster munitions helping Ukraine?

A soldier with Ukraine’s 45th Separate Artillery Brigade fires a 155 mm howitzer, the type of weapon used to launch cluster munitions, in the Donetsk province. Cluster munitions, banned by most countries over human rights concerns, are ‘not a magic wand,’ but some Ukrainian troops say they are making a difference in fighting Russian forces. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

THE images of Russian troops retreating from a village in Ukraine under fire leave little doubt of the impact of cluster munitions. Soldiers running from a constellation of at least a dozen explosions around them. An armoured vehicle speeding down a road before being hit in a cascade of simultaneous eruptions in the surrounding ground.

The August drone footage of the Russian withdrawal from the southeastern village of Urozhaine, verified by The New York Times, highlights the power of the weapons. But their use also points to a grim trade-off in the 18-month conflict.