President Vladimir Putin has said Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and reserves the right to use them if such munitions, which he says he considers a crime, are used against Russian forces in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Ukraine said on Thursday it had received cluster bombs from the United States, its biggest military backer, which it says is needed to compensate for a shortage of projectiles facing Kyiv’s forces as they launch a counteroffensive.

Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries because they typically release large numbers of smaller projectiles that can kill a large area. Some of them do not explode and can be dangerous for decades, especially for children.

Kyiv has said it will use cluster bombs to knock out concentrations of enemy soldiers as it tries to retake its own territory, but will not use them on Russian soil.

They will be used purely to “clear” the territory from concentrated Russian defensive positions, Valeriy Shershen, spokesman for the Tavria operational-strategic group, told Radio Europa Liberă.

He added that the disputed missiles will not be used in cities, densely populated areas or on the territory of Russia.

Unexploded cluster bombs Photo: ARIS MESSINIS/ AFP/ Profimedia Images

Cluster munitions used by both camps

Putin said on state television that Moscow would respond with the same currency if necessary.

“I would like to note that the Russian Federation has a sufficient stock of various types of cluster bombs. I haven’t used them yet. But, of course, if they are used against us, we reserve the right to take retaliatory measures,” said the head of the Kremlin.

Putin said he considers the use of cluster bombs a crime and that Russia has yet to use them itself, although it has had ammunition problems in the past.

Human Rights Watch states that both Moscow and Kyiv used cluster munitions. Russia, Ukraine, and the United States have not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production, stockpiling, use, and transfer of these weapons.

Putin also said on state television that he saw nothing wrong with Russian experts examining captured Western military equipment and missiles, such as the Storm Shadow missiles that Britain has placed in Ukraine, to see if there was anything useful that could be use in Russia’s own military equipment.

“I can radically change the battlefield”

“We just received them, we haven’t used them yet, but they can fundamentally change (the battlefield),” Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Joint Forces Operation Tavria, told CNN on Thursday.

“The adversary also understands that we will have an advantage if we get these ammunitions. The enemy will leave the territory where it can be used,” he said.

Senior management will decide “where it can be applied,” Tarnavskyi said, adding that “this is a very powerful weapon.”

Tarnavskyi emphasized the restrictions on the use of this type of ammunition, noting that their use is prohibited in densely populated areas, even if they are occupied by Russian troops.

The US said it had received written assurances from Ukraine that they would not be used in civilian areas and that their use would be monitored for possible demining operations.

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