Army National Guard veteran Ryan O'Leary saw what a difference it made when U.S. cluster munitions were delivered to the front lines in Ukraine.
O'Leary, who left the Guard as a corporal in 2015, is one of dozens of U.S. veterans who felt compelled to join the fight in Ukraine after Russia launched its invasion there in February 2022.
O'Leary also saw what happened to Ukrainian forces when U.S. weapons ran out. For most of 2023, he fought just south of the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, which Ukrainian troops were forced to withdraw from last month as their ammunition dwindled after months of daily Russian bombardment.
Read Next: Marine Corps Sends Special Response Unit to Haiti After Partial US Embassy Evacuation
“When the cluster munitions got over there, we used them effectively, like nonstop,” he said Wednesday. “The cluster munitions worked great to break up the assault. The problem is, we ran out of them within months.
“When we ran out of the shells, it became harder and harder to push back the Russian troops,” he added. “And then when Russia launched the Avdiivka offensive, it was even harder. Like, there would be days where we wouldn't even shoot any artillery because we didn't have any.”
O'Leary, a self-described conservative who said he voted for former President Donald Trump twice, was speaking to reporters after a news conference outside the Capitol building in which he, the father of a U.S. Marine veteran killed…
