Ukraine Used Banned Cluster Bomb on Own Village

As Russia's push to capture eastern Ukraine intensifies, some developments:

• Howitzers: The US says it will train Ukrainian troops on how to use artillery howitzer systems, reports the Hill. The training will take place not in Ukraine but probably in Poland or Romania. The US has previously provided training on the use of switchblade drones.
• Cluster bombs: These types of bombs open in mid-air and are banned because of their capacity to indiscriminately kill civilians. Russia has been using them in Ukraine, but the New York Times reports on the surprise revelation that Ukraine has, too. One such device was deployed by Ukrainian troops on the village of Husarivka, though no casualties were reported. Ukraine's "decision to saturate their own village with a cluster munition that has the capacity to haphazardly kill innocent people underscores their strategic calculation: This is what they needed to do to retake their country, no matter the cost," per the Times.

• First city falls: The Guardian reports that Russia appears to have captured its first city in the eastern Donbas region. Kreminna, with a population of 18,000, fell under Russian control after being attacked "from all sides," says a regional governor. “It is impossible to calculate the number of dead among the civilian population," says Serhiy Gaidai. "We have official statistics—about 200 dead—but in reality there are many more."

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)