Russian defense minister says Moscow will use cluster munitions in response to U.S. decision to supply them to Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Tuesday that Russia’s forces in Ukraine will begin using cluster munitions in response to Washington’s decision to supply the weapons to Kyiv.

According to Shoigu, Moscow “has abstained and continues to abstain” from using the weapons against Ukraine because it understands “the threat that these munitions pose to the civilian population.”

He added that Russia has cluster munitions “for all situations” and that they are “much more effective than the American ones.” The U.S. supply of the weapon to Ukraine will “prolong the war,” he said.

Human rights organizations have reported that both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the war and that the practice has caused civilian deaths.