More heavy shelling on Kharkiv this evening, once again it seems that Russia are using cluster

[yaesu]

More heavy shelling on Kharkiv this evening, once again it seems that Russia are using cluster munitions - likely fired by Smerch MLRS.

Link to tweet

[Happy Hoosier]

1. What the fuck are they shooting at?

This must be strictly a terror tactic. They don't have any hard military targets and that kind of bombardment is notoriously ineffective at dealing with partisan fighters in the city. It blows up residential buildings and kills civilians. That's about it.

[Irish_Dem]

2. The goal is to damage infrastructure, kill civilians, and save Russian troop lives.

This is a typical military tactic to soften a target prior to ground troops entering the area. This will cut down on Russian troop casualties and deaths. But will increase civilian deaths and damage infrastructure.

It is also an intimidation tactic, and later the Russians will try to starve out the city.

[Happy Hoosier]

3. From what I've read, it's a tactic that typically fails.

It'll kill civilians and destroy infrastructure, but artillery bombardments are notoriously bad at softening up resistance unless they are highly targeted. Maybe he wants to boost the morale of his troops, but when and if they enter the city, the resistance fighters will largely still be there. And more pissed than ever.

[Irish_Dem]

4. My understanding is that it is a standard and fairly successful strategy.

In fact prior to D-Day the British RAF and Army generals wanted to use this strategy to soften the targets in Europe and cut down on troop numbers and casualties. With this tactic, you don't need as many ground troops to take a city.

Eisenhower said NO. He told Churchill that he was not going to let the Allies destroy European capitals and kill so many civilians. The Allies would have to be the ones to rebuild the infrastructure, and mend fences within Europe. He told Churchill that he felt so strongly about this issue that he said he would resign if the British generals got their way.

Churchill thought it over and in the end agreed with Eisenhower. We had to send in a lot more ground troops, and many of them were killed or injured. But we did not destroy Europe in the process.

[WHITT]

5. Unfortunately

Russia and the U.S. are the only two remaining nations that haven't banned cluster munitions.