"We must preserve the honor of our flag and make a statement condemning this aggression," Lyubov Sliska, First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, lower house of the parliament, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"Unfortunately, it is too late to speak of it now -- the war is a reality, and obviously we have to expect a heavy loss of life," she added.

Sliska, who returned on Wednesday from a visit to Spain, said she had heard a speech in the parliament by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

It was absolutely obvious that not everyone supported military action against Iraq, she said.

Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Duma's foreign affairs committee, described the US behavior "could be easily predicted."

Washington "was defeated in the UN Security Council and used force against Iraq despite the council," he said. "The US should assume full responsibility for what is happening in Iraq today."

However, stressing the security council "did not lose," Rogozin said the Duma is expected to speak of the need for a session of the UN General Assembly in its statement on Iraq.

The Duma is expected to start its Thursday session with debate on the US-led war against Iraq and make an official statement on the issue.

The US launched air strikes against Iraq on early Thursday, hours after the US ultimatum demanding Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq within 48 hours or to face a war expired.

Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of UN Security Council, has repeatedly voiced opposition to military operation against Iraq, and called for further inspection in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Monday that war would be a "mistake" that could imperil world security.

The Duma on Tuesday announced a decision to delay the ratification of a major nuclear weapons treaty with Washington due to growing US threat of a war against Iraq.

The treaty, signed last May by presidents of Russia and the United States, calls on both nations to cut their deployed warheads to 1,700 to 2,200 by 2012 -- down from about 6,000 for the United States and 5,500 for Russia. The US Senate unanimously approved the treaty earlier this week.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2003)