Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now a member of Russia’s Security Council, said on Telegram that it had been reported that the Ukrainians were already using the munitions on the southern front.
“It was reported that Tokmak was bombarded with cluster munitions. It means that it is time to unload our arsenals of these inhumane weapons,” Medvedev said, as reported by CNN.
Tokmak is a city near the front in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
Russian military bloggers have claimed that the munitions are already being used by Ukrainian forces. Neither Ukraine nor the United States have said that they are already deployed.
The White House said Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine was “temporary.”
In comments posted late Sunday, the Russian embassy in Washington said the United States had “de facto” admitted to committing war crimes by supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine.
The embassy added that the decision shows that “the United States is ready to annihilate all life far from its own borders and is using the Ukrainians to do it.”
The US confirmed last week that it will send cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, following months of debate within the Biden administration over whether to provide Kiev with the controversial weapons banned by more than 100 countries, including key allies.
