A village close to the Ukrainian border was attacked with cluster munitions on Friday, according to the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, although no one was hurt or property was damaged.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that a multiple-launch rocket system launched 21 artillery shells and three cluster munitions against the village of Zhuravlevka in the Belgorod area.
Without providing visual proof, Reuters was unable to independently confirm the governor’s claim, which he made in a daily briefing on his Telegram channel. Ukraine did not immediately respond with a statement.
Kyiv recently received cluster bombs from the United States earlier this month, but pledged on its use only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.
They are prohibited in many nations due to the possible risk they represent to civilians. They include a large number of tiny bomblets that scatter shrapnel over a large region.
Their use will be restricted to the battlefield, the Ukraine has consistently stated.
The Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine, has frequently been the target of what Russia claims to be indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian soldiers.
Fighting broke out in the area in May and June after pro-Ukrainian armed group militants crossed the border and began engaging Russian security troops.
Ukraine denies involvement in the cross-border raids and makes no claims of responsibility for strikes inside Russian territory.