Russia slams US nod to supply cluster bombs to Kiev as 'act of desperation'

Moscow has lashed out at Washington's decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, undermining it as an  "act of desperation" that signals "weakness," amid Kiev's failure to make much progress in its hyped-up counteroffensive against Russian forces.

"It is an act of desperation and shows weakness against the backdrop of the failure of the much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive," said Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a Saturday statement.

The statement echoed dismissive remarks by other Russian officials a day earlier, with Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, blasting the US move as a sign of "their impotence," leading them to "commit new madness."

"Cluster munitions are a gesture of desperation," Antonov also insisted on Friday as quoted in a report by Sputnik News. "Such a measure speaks of the recognition by the United States and its satellites of their impotence."

However, he added: "Here they do not want to admit their own failures and the failure of the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to carry out an offensive against the Russian regions. Therefore, they commit new madness."

"The cruelty and cynicism with which Washington approached the issue of transferring deadly weapons to Kiev is striking," Antonov further emphasized, pointing out that the Biden administration had totally ignored "the theses about the inhumanity of such a step voiced by experts, human rights activists and legislators," and turned "a blind eye" to civilian casualties.

He then reiterated, "Now, through the fault of the United States, for many years there will be a risk that innocent civilians will be blown up by non-functioning submunitions."

Russia's strong reaction followed Washington's declaration on Friday that it will indeed supply cluster bombs to Ukraine to help its counteroffensive against Russian forces despite a global ban on the use of the controversial weapons of mass destruction.

US declares intent to send controversial banned cluster bombs to Ukraine

The United States has adamantly announced it will provide controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine.

Biden then proclaimed that the decision to supply the munitions was "very difficult," but that Ukrainian forces were "running out of ammunition."

Cluster bombs are banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), an international treaty that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action.

The weapons can contain dozens of smaller bomblets, dispersing over vast areas, often killing and maiming civilians. The CCMs are banned because unexploded bomblets can pose a risk to civilians for years after the fighting is over.

Cluster munitions generally eject submunitions that can cover five times as much area as conventional bombs.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which took effect in 2010, bans all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs. More than 100 countries have signed the treaty, but the US, Russia and Ukraine have not.

Moscow's top diplomat in Washington further pointed to "the deep involvement of the United States" in the Ukraine conflict "even without cluster munitions," but insisted that "the current level of American provocations is really off scale, bringing humanity closer to a new world war."

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Russia

He also underlined that Washington remains "so obsessed with the idea of ​​defeating Russia" that it does not realize the severity of its actions, "which only lead to an increase in the number of victims and prolong the Kiev regime’s agony."

Highlighting Antonov's reported remarks, deputy speaker of Russian upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, also censured America announcement to send cluster munitions to Ukraine saying that the decision effectively confirms Washington's readiness to kill civilians for the sake of continuing hostilities.

"In fact, the United States confirmed Kiev's inability to achieve anything without the use of the most condemned weapons, confirmed readiness to kill civilians for the sake of continuing hostilities at any cost and assumed full responsibility for all future victims of this monstrous weapon," Kosachev emphasized in a statement on his Telegram channel.

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