Russian President Vladimir Putin visits an exhibition of promising Russian corporations throughout the “Strong Ideas for Latest Times” forum in Moscow, Russia, June 29, 2023.
Sergey Savostyanov | Sputnik | Via Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has “sufficient stockpiles” of cluster munitions and warned that Russia “reserves the appropriate to take reciprocal motion” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapon.
In his first statements concerning the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the US, Putin said that Russia has thus far not used cluster bombs within the war in Ukraine.
“Thus far we’ve not done it, we’ve not used it, and we’ve not had the necessity to,” he said, although the use of cluster bombs by each Russia and Ukraine has been extensively documented, including by The Associated Press and international relief organizations, and cluster rounds have been found following the Russian strikes.
Read more about Russia’s war with Ukraine:
Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts from the interview on his Telegram channel on Sunday ahead of the scheduled broadcast on Sunday evening.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that cluster munitions supplied by the USA had arrived in Ukraine.
The munitions, that are bombs that open within the air and fire dozens of smaller bombs, are seen by the US as a technique to acquire critically needed munitions to assist Kiev bolster its offensive and break through Russian front lines. American leaders debated the thorny issue for months before President Joe Biden made his final decision last week.
Cluster bombs have long been criticized by humanitarian organizations and a few US allies because those utilized in previous conflicts had a high rate of misfires, meaning they often leave unexploded ordnance that may harm civilians long after the battle is over.
Proponents argue that Russia already uses cluster munitions in Ukraine, and that US-supplied weapons have been upgraded to go away far less unexploded ordnance behind. Ukraine has promised to make use of them only away from densely populated areas.
On the bottom, the Ukrainian military said in an everyday update on Sunday morning that previously 24 hours Russia launched two exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones, two cruise missiles and two guided anti-aircraft missiles, in addition to 40 airstrikes and 46 multiple rocket launch attacks.
The Ukrainian General Staff wrote that Russia continues to give attention to offensive operations in the economic east of Ukraine. The governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on Sunday that two residents of the region were killed and one person was injured on Saturday.
Abroad, two boys, aged 8 and 10, were injured when an explosive device left by Russian forces detonated within the southern region of Kherson on Sunday, in line with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
The governor of the region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that Russia had carried out 69 artillery strikes on the Kherson region. A 59-year-old man was killed on Saturday while attempting to disarm a hoop road within the regional capital, also referred to as Kherson.
Yuri Malashko, governor of the neighboring partially occupied Zaporizhia region, said Russia had attacked 13 populated areas within the region, injuring seven people in the town of Stepnohirsk.
Moscow-installed authorities within the Russian-occupied Crimea reported on Sunday a “massive and prolonged” nighttime drone attack on Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest port, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. In keeping with the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razozhayev, the air defenses shot down all of the drones and did no damage.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said a lady was killed Sunday by shelling within the village of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border.