President Vladimir Putin has said Russia has an adequate stockpile of cluster bombs and reserves the right to use such munitions if it deems them a crime. Russian troops in Ukraine.
Ukraine said Thursday Received cluster bombs from AmericaIts biggest military backer says the munitions are needed to offset a shortage of shells once faced by Kyiv’s forces. They are counter-attacking.
Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries because they typically release large numbers of small bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Some of them will inevitably fail to explode and remain dangerous for decades, especially to children.
Kyiv said it would use cluster bombs to destroy enemy concentrations as it tries to retake its own territory, but not on Russian territory.
Putin said state TV Moscow would respond if necessary.
“I would like to note that the Russian Federation has a sufficient stockpile of various types of cluster bombs. We have not used them yet. But of course if they are used against us, we reserve the right to take reciprocal action.”
Putin has said he considers the use of cluster bombs a crime and that Russia has yet to see the need to use them despite its own munitions problems in the past.
Human Rights Watch says Moscow and Kyiv have used cluster munitions. Russia, Ukraine and the US are not signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.
Putin told state TV that Russian experts had found nothing wrong with the examination of seized Western military equipment and missiles such as the Storm Shadow missile supplied to Ukraine by Britain. Hardware.