8-7-2023 (MOSCOW) Russia has strongly criticized the decision made by the United States to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine, deeming it a path towards genocide and a threat to global peace, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, stated that the U.S. decision, along with its European partners, would face consequences in the future as it directly leads to genocide.
“Russia will respond appropriately to this, and our military units have been informed about the potential use of cluster munitions by the enemy,” said Slutsky.
The United States recently announced its intention to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the fact that these weapons are banned by an international convention ratified by 123 countries.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into effect in 2010, prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. However, neither the United States nor Ukraine are signatories to this convention.
The cluster munitions that the United States plans to transfer to Ukraine are fired from 155 mm howitzers, with each canister containing 88 bomblets. Each bomblet has a lethal range of approximately 10 square meters, allowing a single canister to cover an area of up to 30,000 square meters, as reported by CNN.
These munitions disperse bomblets across large areas, some of which may fail to detonate upon impact, posing a long-term risk to individuals who come into contact with them, similar to landmines.
“Due to the actions of the United States, innocent people will now face the risk of being injured by unexploded submunitions for many years to come,” expressed Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to Washington.
The decision by the United States to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine has further heightened tensions between Russia and the Western countries, with Moscow strongly condemning the move and signaling potential consequences for the future.
