Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his military has a “good reserve” of cluster bombs and threatens to use them in Ukraine if Kiev uses this type of weapon from the United States.
Washington announced on the 7th that it will provide the Ukrainian military with cluster munitions, which are controversial because the charges they spread could cause many secondary civilian casualties.
“In Russia there is a good supply of cluster munitions, of various types,” Putin stressed in an interview with the public television channel “Rossia-1”, broadcast on Sunday and quoted by the France-Presse bureau (AFP).
“Until now we have not used them, we have not needed them, although at one point we had a known shortage of ammunition”, said Putin. “But if they are used against us, we reserve the right to retaliate.” added the Russian president.
Putin recalled in the interview that “the use of cluster bombs was described as a crime by the US government itself.
“I believe this is how it should be treated,” said the Russian head of state.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergueï Choïgou had already stated that “if the United States supplies Ukraine with fragmentation weapons, the Russian armed forces will be forced to use similar means of destruction.”
Ukrainian soldiers have accused the Russian military of using this controversial munitions since the beginning of the conflict.
According to Putin, the United States has announced the delivery of these weapons because it has a “shortage of ammunition” to supply Kiev.
“The Ukrainian army uses up to 5,000 or 6,000 155mm shells a day in combat. But the US produces 15,000 a month. They don’t have enough and neither does Europe. They have nothing better to offer than cluster munitions,” Putin said. . .
These weapons are banned in many countries, mainly in Europe, which are signatories to the 2008 Oslo Convention, to which the United States, Ukraine and Russia are not parties.
Source: DN
