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In response to Washington’s decision to supply the Ukrainian military with dangerous cluster munition, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu recalled that Russian forces also have similar weapons and they will be forced to use them against the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Shoigu noted that similar Russian shells are more effective than those made by the US, but the Russian military refrained from using them because of the threat to civilians.
Cluster munitions consist of special shells that explose in the air and scatter a large number of smaller shells, or submunitions, killing enemy manpower. These munitions can explode even after a long time after their application posing a great threat to civilians. The United States, Russia and Ukraine are not parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which is an international treaty that prohibits their use, transfer and accumulation.
The head of the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that Moscow has always refrained from using these munitions during the special military operation in Ukraine because of the great threat it poses to civilians.
Although, he noted, the Russian forces are armed with cluster bombs, which are “much more effective than the American ones, their nomenclature is wider and more diverse.”
The Ukrainian military was already spotted secretly using foreign cluster munitions but Kiev denied all the reports. On July 7, the United States decided to officially transfer cluster munitions to the war-torn country.
Such a decision is another step towards the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict which leads to destruction of the country and the people. After American weapons are used on the battlefield, Ukrainian troops will be struck at by Russian cluster bombs in response. Shoigu also warned that Washington’s transfer of cluster munitions to Kiev would lead to a prolongation of the conflict.
Washington’s decision was not officially supported by the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and Italy, Rishi Sunak and George Meloni, as well as the head of the Spanish Defense Ministry, Margarita Robles. Criticism followed from some public figures and other politicians, including from the USA.
