Yuri Kobzar12:56, 08/15/234 min.208

Shoigu threatened that Russia would start using cluster munitions, which it uses all the time anyway.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian army will start using cluster munitions in response to the supply of similar weapons to Ukraine. 

In his statement at the Moscow Conference on International Security, Shoigu managed to lie in almost every sentence. UNIAN analyzed this lie point by point.

So, Shoigu called the supply of American cluster munitions to Ukraine a “humanitarian problem”, although after that it was the Russian occupying troops on the front line who had problems. This was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal .

“The consequences of the use of such weapons for the civilian population are known,” Shoigu said, hinting at the danger from unexploded submunitions, which for many years could pose a danger to the civilian population as well.Shoigu on cluster munitionsShoigu about cluster munitionsHowever, Ukraine needs these munitions to break through the fortified Russian defenses, where dense minefields are already equipped . 

Those. unexploded submunitions initially fall into the territory, which still needs to be carefully cleared. 

“Before, American representatives have repeatedly stated that the use of cluster munitions is a war crime.

Today, Washington and its accomplices are committing this crime in Ukraine,” Shoigu said.

In fact, the Geneva Convention says nothing about the prohibition of cluster munitions, so their use on the battlefield is not a war crime. Article 51 of the ” First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions ” provides for a ban on the use of indiscriminate weapons where civilians may suffer from them. 

But this ban is universal and applies, among other things, to powerful high-explosive artillery shells and air bombs.  

There is an independent Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions, but participation in it is voluntary. Moreover, neither Russia, nor the United States, nor Ukraine are parties to this convention, and therefore are in no way bound by its restrictions.

There is no condemnation from humanitarian organizations, as expected,” Shoigu said.

In fact, some countries and human rights organizations have indeed opposed sending cluster shells to Ukraine. 

But not because they are illegal in principle, but because their use inevitably leaves behind a certain amount of unexploded submunitions, as mentioned above.

“I wanted to draw attention to the fact that we also have cluster munitions in service. Until now, for humanitarian reasons, we have refrained from using them. However, this decision can be reconsidered,” Shoigu said, collecting a real “Bingo” from lies and manipulations. 

There are several claims from Shoigu to this paragraph at once. 

First, I would like to ask why Russia needs cluster munitions, the very fact of using which, according to Shoigu himself, is a “war crime.” 

Secondly, Shoigu blatantly lied when he said that Russia “refrained” from using this type of ammunition.Earlier, UNIAN repeatedly wrote about the use of cluster bombs and shells by the aggressor. 

And not only at the front against the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is not formally prohibited by international law, but also near civilians, including in dense urban areas, which is just prohibited by the previously mentioned “First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.” 

Such cases were recorded in particular in  Konstantinovka ,  Kharkov ,  Nikolaev , and many other places in Ukraine.

(C)UNIAN 2023