Estonia wants to transfer cluster ammunition to Ukraine, German permission is needed

Estonia intends to transfer cluster munition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however this requires the consent of Germany, origin-country of these projectiles.

This was reported by ERR, citing Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.

Ukraine has asked Estonia to hand over cluster munitions to defend against a full-scale Russian invasion.

“Estonia has decided to provide Ukraine with 155mm artillery rounds. I do not consider it necessary to talk about the details of agreements between the armed forces of Estonia and Ukraine, in particular about the number and range of ammunition.

If we provide cluster ammunition to Ukraine, I do not see problems here now as both sides use such ammunition in fighting on the territory of Ukraine ,” said Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister.

The Estonian Defense Forces have been armed with German-made cluster ammunition since the 90s.

These munitions will allow Ukrainian forces to attack larger dispersed targets more effectively, such as the concentration of Russian troops and equipment on the battlefield.

Germany, whose consent now depends on the possibility of supplying such ammunition from Estonia to Ukraine, has previously refused to produce and use cluster ammunition.

Cluster ammunition is banned by the international convention, which began in 2010, but neither Estonia, nor Ukraine, nor Russia have joined it, as have the United States, China, Israel and several other countries.

Cluster ammunition is considered particularly dangerous for civilians due to the fact that the submunitions of such ammunition, which did not detonate immediately, turn into a mine and can kill or cripple people at any time.

In December last year, the CNN TV channel reported that the United States was considering the possibility of providing the AFU with cluster ammunition. Ukrainian officials and lawmakers have repeatedly called on President Joe Biden’s administration and members of Congress in recent months to provide the Ukrainian military with this type of ammunition.

Cluster ammunition consists of containers equipped with gravyty bombs, artillery rounds, rocket shells and tactical missile warheads. Typically, they initiate in the air and scatter dozens or even hundreds of small submunitions over the target. These are usually small explosive devices that explode on the ground immediately or later.