Human Rights Watch Urges U.S. Congress to Block Transfer of Cluster Munitions From Turkey to Ukraine

Human Rights Watch has called on the U.S. Congress to block the transfer to Ukraine of U.S.-made cluster munitions from Turkish stockpiles.

The organization said this in a statement published on August 11, 2026.

Turkey has asked the United States for permission to re-export a large batch of U.S. munitions that have been stored in its warehouses for years. The proposed package includes, among other items, 2 524 M26 rockets and 47 000 M509A1 203 mm artillery shells.

Together, they contain more than 10 million cluster submunitions.

Human Rights Watch opposes the deal and has called on Congress not to authorize the transfer of the cluster munitions.

“These outdated cluster munitions pose a foreseeable humanitarian threat to civilians,” said Nicole Widdersheim, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Washington.

The organization believes that the use of such munitions poses a long-term danger to civilians because some submunitions may fail to detonate upon initial use.

HRW also called on Turkey to abandon plans to transfer these munitions to Ukraine and stressed the need to comply with international restrictions on cluster weapons.

The U.S. State Department sent a document on the possible deal to Congress on Aug. 6. In it, the U.S. side said it was prepared to authorize the transfer, while Turkey seeks to reduce its stocks of older weapons and use the funds to modernize and maintain newer equipment.

The United States also said that Ukraine seeks these systems to strengthen its firepower amid Russia’s invasion.

Despite the organization’s position, Russia has systematically used cluster munitions in various areas on the battlefield since the start of its full-scale invasion, as well as other types of weapons whose use is restricted or prohibited under international conventions.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that Ukraine had purchased from Turkey 70 M39 ATACMS ballistic missiles, 12 M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems capable of firing GMLRS and ATACMS missiles, as well as tens of thousands of cluster munitions.