In an interview that was released on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that his country had a "sufficient stockpile" of cluster bombs and that he "reserves the right to take reciprocal action" if Ukraine employs the contentious weapons, news agency Associated Press (AP) reported.
Putin claimed that Russia has not yet deployed cluster bombs in its conflict in Ukraine in his opening remarks on the U.S. supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine.
“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he was quoted by AP in its report, despite the fact that both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster bombs, their usage has been well recorded, notably by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organisations.
Before the interview was to be broadcast Sunday night on Rossiya TV, reporter Pavel Zarubin shared sections of it to his Telegram account on Sunday.
Cluster bombs delivered by the United States have landed in Ukraine, the Pentagon reported on Thursday.
The U.S. views the munitions, which are bombs that explode in the air and scatter a large number of smaller bomblets, as a means of providing Kyiv with the firepower it desperately needs to reinforce its attack and break through Russian defences. Before President Joe Biden made the ultimate decision last week, American authorities had been debating the contentious topic for months.
Humanitarian organisations and several U.S. allies have long criticised cluster bombs because they have a high "dud rate," which means that they frequently leave behind unexploded bomblets that can hurt civilians long after a combat has concluded.
Supporters contend that Russia has previously used cluster bombs in Ukraine and that the U.S.-supplied weapons have been upgraded to produce a far less number of unexploded rounds. They will only be used outside of heavily populated regions, the Ukraine has vowed.
On the ground, the Ukrainian military reported in a regular update on Sunday morning that Russia had carried out 40 airstrikes and 46 assaults from multiple rocket launchers over the last 24 hours, along with two Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, two cruise missiles, and two anti-aircraft guided missiles.