Newly delivered, US-made cluster munitions have given fresh impetus to Ukraine's campaign to retake territory captured by Russia after weeks of little progress, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ukrainian soldiers say they used cluster munitions that release dozens of smaller submunitions and can cause destruction over a wider area than conventional artillery shells, to hit Russian infantry concentrations, equipment groups and other targets, to clear the way for an offensive.
Kyiv's counteroffensive operations went difficult due to the extensive minefields and Moscow's air power superiority, so that it was hard to use Western-provided tanks and armoured vehicles to reach and penetrate entrenched Russian lines.
While cluster bombs alone cannot change the balance of power on the battlefield in Ukraine's favour, soldiers say they have helped them capture the Russian positions they were trying to reach.
The munitions were combined with a change in tactics, so that allowed Ukrainian troops to advance within striking distance of the main borders of Russian defence.
The General Staff of Estonia believes that we can see the results of Ukraine's offensive before winter. It depends on the Russia, whose actions are unpredictable.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Defence Forces continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Bakhmut, Melitopol and Berdyansk directions.