According to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Russia will be forced to use “similar” weapons if the United States supplies Ukraine with cluster munitions. Russia has cluster bombs but has so far refrained from using them, Shoigu told Russian news agencies yesterday. The United States, on the other hand, accuses Moscow of using cluster munitions since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Cluster munitions are missiles and bombs that explode in the air over the target, scattering or releasing many small explosive devices called submunitions. Cluster munitions are controversial mainly because a significant percentage of their explosive devices do not detonate and, as failures, put the population at risk even after the end of a battle.
Like over 100 other countries, Austria has joined a treaty banning cluster munitions – the Oslo Convention. The US did not sign the agreement, as did Ukraine and Russia.