Russians Engage in Chaotic Assault under Cluster Munitions Fire: PoV Video

Russian soldiers are bearing the brunt of Ukraine's cluster munitions along the front lines, new footage appears to show, as Kyiv plugs away at Russian positions.

In the point-of-view clip, purportedly filmed by a Russian soldier, one fighter can be heard asking another if "everything [is] clear," before the voice adds: "They are firing cluster rounds at us." The video clip captures an audible whistling sound of an incoming projectile, before a spate of what appear to be cluster submunitions hit the ground close to the camera.

"Cluster round incoming," a voice can be heard saying, before two Russian soldiers report that soldiers have been wounded.

The video appeared to originate on a Telegram channel called Russia No Context, which focuses on the Ukraine war, and was widely shared across Reddit and X, formerly Twitter, where it was carried by @wartranslated, which reports extensively on the conflict.

Newsweek could not independently verify when, or where, this clip was filmed. Throughout the war in Ukraine, unverified and inaccurate footage has cropped up on social media, and footage can be an effective propaganda tool for both sides, spreading quickly online.

The Russian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment via email.

The U.S. has provided Kyiv with two types of cluster munitions, which Russia has also used in the 20-month war in Ukraine. While effective weapons, cluster munitions are controversial and banned by more than 120 countries, which does not include the U.S. or Ukraine.

Washington agreed to supply Ukraine with dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) in July, and the White House quickly described Ukraine as deploying cluster munitions "quite effectively."

Cluster munitions are "very useful for clearing out large numbers of infantry," Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute defense think tank told Newsweek ahead of the decision.

Ukraine also received deliveries of a cluster variant of the U.S.-made ATACMS, which Kyiv debuted in a surprise blitz attack on two Russian bases in eastern and southern Ukraine earlier this month.

On October 17, Ukraine's special operations forces said it had destroyed nine Russian helicopters in overnight strikes on airbases in the Zaporizhzhia city of Berdiansk and Luhansk City. Both sites are far behind the current front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine—in Russian-occupied territory—and open source reports later suggested that Ukraine may have damaged up to 21 Russian helicopters in the strikes.

The cluster variant ATACMS could "dramatically change the entire strategy and tactics of the war," refocusing attention away from Ukraine's grueling land war to long-range strikes, Dan Rice, a former adviser to Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, told Newsweek as footage of the strikes emerged on social media.

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