UNITED NATIONS, October 17. /TASS/. The United Nations is strongly against the use of cluster munitions, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Secretary General, said on Tuesday.
"We have long spoken out against cluster munition," he told a briefing when asked by TASS to comment on Kiev’s use of US-made long-range ATACMS missiles.
Vladimir Rogov, the leader of the movement We Are Together With Russia, said earlier on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had used ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads to attack the city of Berdyansk on Tuesday night for the first time. "In Berdyansk, the Zaporozhye Region cluster submunitions M74 of the US tactical missile ATACMS have been found," he wrote on his Telegram channel, without specifying the source of the information. Later in the day, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the use of these missiles.
According to CNN reports, the US supplies ATACMS missiles to Ukraine clandestinely in bid to take Russian forces by surprise. Washington opted not to announce this step in advance so that Russia could not "move equipment and weapons out of reach before the missiles could be used." It said.
The Associated Press (AP), said in turn that Washington supplied Kiev with ATACMS missiles with a somewhat shorter range not to further exacerbate tension in its relations with Russia. However, these missiles have cluster warheads.