DONETSK, July 10. /TASS/. The cluster munitions that the US plans to provide to Ukraine must be destroyed pre-emptively, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Acting Head Denis Pushilin said on Monday.

"Russian troops will have to step up efforts to counter and detect these munitions as soon as they arrive in the rest of Ukraine," he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel, when asked to comment on US plans to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions. "Of course, it’s better to take preventive measures and destroy them when they are being prepared for use," the Donetsk leader added.

On July 7, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States had decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the fact that the United Nations opposes the use of such weapons. He also stated that Kiev had provided Washington with written assurances that the controversial weapons would be used in such a way as to minimize risks to civilians. Pentagon Spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Thursday that the United States intended to provide Ukraine with a type of cluster munitions that allegedly pose the least risk to civilians. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said earlier that Guterres supported the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was against the use of such weapons on the battlefield.

When detonated in the air, cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over an area of dozens of square meters. If unexploded immediately, these bomblets pose a threat to civilians long after the end of any conflict. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. To date, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document but have yet to ratify it.