Ukraine may begin using US cluster munitions 'in the coming hours,' Biden advisor Jake Sullivan says

Ukrainian artillery batteries fire on the frontline as clashes continue near villages recaptured by the Ukrainian army in Donetsk, Ukraine on June 21, 2023.

Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• Ukraine has already received cluster munitions from the US, Jake Sullivan told CNN.
• Sullivan, a national security advisor for Biden, said the bombs could be used within "hours."
• He said Ukraine needs the controversial munitions because of a shortage in artillery ammunition.

Ukraine has received a shipment of US cluster munitions and is likely to begin using them this week, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

"The cluster bombs have arrived in country," Sullivan told CNN's Jake Tapper. "I don't have a report for you today as to whether they have actually been deployed at this point, but if they have not, they will be in the coming hours or days."

The Biden administration earlier this month announced it was providing Ukraine with the controversial munitions to aid its ongoing counteroffensive. The munitions break apart into small bombs when fired, enabling them to inflict wider damage on entrenched Russian forces. But they are also widely banned due to their potential for civilian harm, with unexploded bombs effectively becoming landmines.

Supporters of the decision argue that cluster munitions have already been widely used in Ukraine, primarily by Russia. Ukrainian forces have pledged to track their use for post-war cleanup operations.

Speaking on Sunday, Sullivan argued that the shipment was necessitated by a lack of 155mm artillery shells, a problem that he argued existed under the previous administration. In January, the US military said it aimed to increase production of the NATO-standard round from 14,000 a month to 90,000 by 2025. But that's far from enough to keep up with demand: Ukrainian forces have been using up to 240,000 every 30 days, Defense One reported.

"President Biden ordered his Pentagon to work rapidly to scale up the ability of the United States to produce all the ammunition we could ever need for any conflict at any time in the future. We are in the middle of doing that," Sullivan said.

But "there is a need for a bridge between today and the day when we have hit the mark," he added, and "providing cluster munitions fills a gap for Ukraine."

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