Moscow threatens deploying cluster bombs if Ukraine uses similar U.S.-supplied munitions
Any use of U.S.-supplied cluster bombs by Ukraine will be met with a similar response by Russian forces, officials in Moscow said Wednesday.
The statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peksov comes after President Biden last week authorized supplying Kyiv with the munitions as part of an $800 million security package.
“Naturally, the potential use of this type of weapon is a game-changer,” Mr. Peskov told reporters. “It will certainly force Russia to take specific steps in response.”
A number of countries, including NATO allies like the United Kingdom, have banned the production and use of cluster munitions. The United States is not a signatory to the 2008 international treaty that seeks to prohibit them.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Russian fighters have refrained from using cluster munitions in their “special military operation” in Ukraine because of the danger such weapons can pose for civilians.
Washington providing such weapons to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict, Mr. Shoigu said, according to TASS, the official Russian news agency.
Human Rights Watch said Moscow and Kyiv have both used cluster munitions in the war, causing injuries and death to numerous civilians.
“Both sides should immediately stop using them and not try to get more of these indiscriminate weapons,” said Mary Wareham, acting arms director at Human Rights Watch.
The latest security assistance package to Ukraine brings total U.S. military aid to more than $40 billion since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
