A man drives a scooter past destroyed cars by a Uragan cluster missile strike in Lyman, Donetsk region in Ukraine, on July 8, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
MOSCOW/KYIV – Washington has committed a war crime by supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday.
"Given the growing shortage of ammunition for Western-manufactured artillery systems within the Armed forces of Ukraine, Washington has committed a war crime by including cluster munitions," Shoigu said at a defense ministry board meeting, as reported on the ministry's website.
He pointed out that the United States is further escalating the conflict by "seeking deliveries of increasingly long-range and deadly weapons" from its allies.
Meanwhile, Russia's national security service said it had arrested a suspect in Crimea who blew up a gas pipeline.
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According to a statement by the Federal Security Service, the saboteur is a Russian citizen involved in "a sabotage and terrorist act at the energy infrastructure facility of the Republic of Crimea."
Ukrainian servicemen of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss" prepare a BM-21 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on June 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
The detainee confessed to collaborating with special services of Ukraine to carry out terrorist attacks in late June, the statement added.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country hopes to increase its exports through Moldova after the construction of a new bridge over the Dniester River on the joint border.
"Ukrainian exporters will have a convenient way to southeastern Europe and will increase the volume of their goods' exports," Shmyhal was quoted as saying by the government press service.
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The bridge, with its construction greenlighted by the Ukrainian government earlier in the day, will become a key element of the transport corridor between Kiev and Chisinau, Shmyhal said.
