Ukraine's troops show CBS News how controversial U.S. cluster munitions help them hold Russia at bay_我的网站
A | Near Lyman, Ukraine — At a secret hide-out deep in a forest near the eastern city of Lyman, Ukrainian forces were caught in the crosshairs of a new line of Russian attack. Our CBS News team huddled in the dugout with the troops, not far from the eastern front line, where Russia was putting them under intense pressure with a barrage of artillery in a bid to stretch Ukraine's resources. Moscow wants to force the Ukrainians to bolster their defenses in the area by pulling soldiers away from their counteroffensive in the south. "We've got a couple of weeks now of very huge combats," U.S.-trained Commander Simon Solatenko told us. He and his elite troops from the Bogun Brigade had been up all night, fending off another Russian assault. They're outmanned and outgunned. The Russian forces have almost 10 times more ammunition.
He's lost a friend in the battle, and he's exhausted. "We're holding our line," he told us with a deep sigh. "It is difficult. I can't say our morale is on the top, but we are holding our line and we are standing."The fighting was so close you could smell the gunpowder, Solatenko told us, but they managed yet again to send the Russian soldiers running back in the opposite direction.One thing that has made a difference further along the front line in the region are the U.S. supplied, and controversial, cluster munitions. The Biden administration agreed to send the weapons earlier this summer, as Ukraine's ammunition shortages threatened its counteroffensive.
Critics of that decision worry about a weapon that releases dozens of smaller "bomblets," which sometimes fail to explode — posing a deadly threat to civilians as they can linger on the ground long after a conflict ends. That risk has seen more than 120 countries ban the use of the weapons, but not Russia, Ukraine or the United States.
Commander Musikant of the Bogun Brigade's artillery unit told CBS News they give his forces a crucial advantage: In the absence of air power, cluster munitions enable Ukrainian troops to clear an area quickly, as they can strike a large section of ground using a single shell.We watched as he directed a strike from their control room. With Russian positions in the firing line, Musikant gave the order to unleash one cluster bomb. The gunner out in the field received the order and let it fly, and then he and his men hotfooted it out of there — firing a shell can reveal their position, and they too can become targets.Ukrainian forces fire a U.S.-supplied cluster munition at a Russian position near the front line outside the eastern city of Lyman, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, August 31, 2023. CBS News The hit was successful.The moral dilemma of using a weapon banned by most countries is not up for debate on the battlefields of Ukraine. The men trying to fend off Russia's invasion believe the cluster bombs are crucial to helping them hold the line, at least for now.The Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to CBS News said the "dud rate" — the number of bomblets that fail to explode — on the American cluster munitions has been very low, claiming they've been almost 100% efficient.White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in July that Ukraine was putting the weapons to use "appropriately."Russia, too, has relied on the controversial bombs during its invasion, and U.S. officials say Moscow has used older versions, with higher dud rates.
。 Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said Friday that the country might be forced to take some 50 million tonnes of grain off the market after this year’s crops fell short of the 130 million tonne target.,"I don't expect major problems in Europe in both categories of grain, for cattle breeding and for human consumption, since this year's crops were excellent despite the drought at the end of the season. The problems, if they arise, will be in the Middle East and Africa, and maybe in some countries of Southeast Asia," Gisele Fichefet said.,The only problem facing Europe, Fichefet said further, is a low nitrogen content of the wheat crop in many places, which means it will not be used in the baking industry but only for livestock feed.,Russia was the world's top exporter of nitrogen fertilizers in 2021, the most valued variety, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Many European and Central Asian countries rely on Russia for over 50% of their fertilizer supply, and shortages are expected to extend to next year.,Russia is also the world's largest exporter of wheat, with Ukraine in fifth place. Together, the two countries account for more than one-third of global cereal exports and a half of the world's sunflower oil export market.,FAO predicted in March that supply disruptions in Russia and Ukraine could affect some 50 countries that depend on the two for 30% or more of their wheat supply. Many of them are low-income countries in northern Africa, Asia and the Near East.,AfricaAnti-Russia Sanctions Left Africa Without Access to Grain and Fertilisers, African Union Chief Says3 June, 11:13 GMT,Fichefet said it was "not so much a price problem, as a delivery issue" because price fluctuations had not been more than 20% up or down since the start of the Ukrainian conflict. A UN-brokered deal among Russia, Ukraine and Turkey has at least temporarily stabilized the prices. That may change if Russia slashes grain exports, she predicted.,The West has repeatedly accused Russia of undermining global food security. Moscow argues that Western sanctions on financial transactions and maritime transportation have disrupted global food supply chains, curbing the access of Russian food products and fertilizers to markets. The deal, agreed in Istanbul in July, seeks to facilitate the transport of grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports, while simultaneously addressing limits on Russian exports.。
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