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By: The opinion Posted Jul 17, 2023, 1:37 am EDT
In response to the determination of the United States to send cluster bombs to Ukraine to help the European country in its counteroffensive against Russia, President Vladimir Putin said his country had a “sufficient reserve” of these types of weapons and reserved the right to use them if such ammunitionthe use of which he said he considered a crime, were being deployed against Russian forces in Ukraine.
This is not the first warning, a few days ago, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, stated that “sIf the United States supplies Ukraine with cluster bombs, the Russian military will be forced to use similar means of destruction”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said on Thursday it had received cluster bombs from the United States, its biggest military backer, which says the munitions are needed to make up for a shortage of shells facing Kiev forces as they mount a counteroffensive. .
Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries because they usually release large numbers of smaller mini-bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Some of them inevitably do not explode and can pose a danger for decades, especially for children.
kyiv has said it will use cluster bombs to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers. when you try to recapture your own territory, but you will not use them on Russian territory.
Putin told state television that Moscow would respond in kind if necessary.
“I want to note that in the Russian Federation there are enough stocks of different types of cluster bombs. We haven’t used them yet. But of course, if they are used against us, we reserve the right to reciprocate.”
Putin said he considered the use of cluster bombs a crime and that until now Russia had not needed to use them. despite having suffered from its own ammunition problems in the past.
Human Rights Watch says that both Moscow and kyiv have used cluster munitions. Russia, Ukraine and the US have not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of weapons.
Putin also told state television that he saw nothing wrong with Russian specialists examining captured Western military equipment and missiles, such as the Storm Shadow missiles Britain supplied to Ukraine, to see if there was anything useful that could be used on his own. Russian military equipment.
Keep reading:
• The US believes that it is too soon for Ukraine to become a member of NATO
• Russia says it will respond with “all means” to NATO threats
• Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak address the evolution of the counteroffensive in Ukraine in London