Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that if the United States supplied cluster bombs to Ukraine, Russia would be forced to use similar weapons in response. These statements come after the US announced last week that it would be supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions, deemed banned by over 100 countries, including Britain and Japan, due to their wide area coverage and high failure rate of up to 40%. Shoigu added that the Russian army was taking measures to protect its troops from such weapons. The US has granted Ukraine's request for cluster bombs due to a lack of regular artillery ammunition.

However, close US allies have expressed their opposition to the use of cluster munitions, including Britain, Canada and Germany. Human Rights Watch says both Moscow and Kyiv have used cluster munitions during the nearly 17-month conflict in Ukraine. Shoigu also said that Russia was "significantly reducing" the potential of Ukraine's counteroffensive and that Russian forces had gained ground during their own counterattack in the direction of Lyman in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Russia has emphasized that it is in possession of cluster munitions but has so far refrained from using them in its military campaign.

However, the US has previously accused Russia of using cluster munitions in Ukraine and said they have had a failure rate of up to 40%. Shoigu noted that the Russian cluster munitions are "much more effective than American ones." The US, Russia and Ukraine have not signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which regulates the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions. It appears that the US' supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine will be met with a response from Russia, further escalating the conflict in the region.