Pentagon sees indications Russia using ‘dumb’ bombs in Ukraine

Russia has launched more than 710 missiles against Ukraine since its attack on the country began two weeks ago, and the Pentagon has seen indications that Kremlin forces are also dropping so-called “dumb bombs,” a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday. 

Dumb bombs are munitions that are not precision-guided and therefore have limited ability to hit targets accurately. 

The official said it’s unclear whether Moscow’s use of the dumb bombs is by design or by default due to potential damage to its precision capabilities. Nevertheless, the U.S. government is seeing “increasing damage to civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties” with the combined use of bombs and missiles.   

The comments follow Ukraine accusing Russia of bombing a children’s hospital and maternity ward on Wednesday in the port city of Mariupol.  

“Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror?” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted after the attack. 

The hospital in Mariupol joins the dozens of other that have been severely damaged or destroyed since the start of the war, according to information compiled by a group of Ukrainian journalists. 

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the U.S. sees “no real ground progress to speak to except in a couple of places,” the official said. 

Russian forces have inched closer to Kharkiv, gaining about 12 miles in the past day, and are just outside the city. And the nation’s forces are about 9 miles north of Mykolaiv, the official said. 

But there still have been “no significant movements” towards Chernihiv or Kyiv, the country’s capital.  

The official added Russia still has more than 90 percent of their available combat power, while Ukrainian fighters have damaged or destroyed the other 10 percent.