MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview, published on Sunday, that Russia has a sufficient stockpile of cluster munitions. He warned that Russia reserved the right to take reciprocal action if Ukraine used the controversial weapons.
In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the US, Putin said Russia had not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far. The use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine had been widely documented and cluster rounds had been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes.
“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he said, Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel on Sunday ahead of a scheduled broadcast.
The Pentagon had said on Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the US had arrived in Ukraine. The munitions, which are bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets, are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian front-lines.
US leaders debated the thorny issue for months before President Joe Biden made the final decision last week. Cluster bombs have long been criticised by humanitarian groups and some US allies because those used in previous conflicts have had a high “dud rate,” meaning that they often leave behind unexploded bomblets that can harm civilians long after a battle ends.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said fighting in the eastern Ukraine has “somewhat intensified” as Ukrainian and Russian forces clash in at least three areas. Kyiv launched a counteroffensive last month in a bid to retake Russian-occupied territory and seize the initiative in Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its 17th month.
Maliar said on a social media platform that Russian forces had been attacking in the direction of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region for two successive days. “We are on the defensive,” she wrote. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a Ukrainian counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory was not succeeding and that attempts to break through Russian defences had failed.