Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin threatens cluster bomb retaliation if weapons used against Russian forces
The Russian president said Moscow had "sufficient stockpile" of the weapons, which are controversial because they release large numbers of smaller bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.
Sunday 16 July 2023 12:40, UK
Vladimir Putin has threatened the use of cluster bombs by Russian forces if Ukraine deploys the controversial weapons.
The Russian president said Moscow had "sufficient stockpile" of its own cluster munitions and it "reserved the right" to use them "if they are used against us".
The US has supplied Ukraine with the controversial weapons - which are banned in more than 100 countries because they release large numbers of smaller bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.
The submunitions can also remain unexploded for years - and can kill and injure civilians long after conflicts end.
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Kyiv has previously stated that the munitions are needed to compensate for shell shortages faced by its forces at a time when they are mounting a counteroffensive.
But Mr Putin, speaking about their use on state-run TV Moscow, said: "I want to note that in the Russian Federation there is a sufficient stockpile of different kinds of cluster bombs.
"We have not used them yet. But of course if they are used against us, we reserve the right to take reciprocal action."
Though Mr Putin claimed that Moscow had not used cluster bombs in its invasion of Ukraine - reports in March 2022 suggested that Russia had used weapons in the early stages of the conflict.
In other developments in the Ukraine conflict:
- Russia claimed it had prevented a "terrorist attack" on the Crimean port of Sevastopol;
- The governor of the Russian border region of Belford said a woman had been killed by a Ukrainian shell;
- A Chinese naval flotilla set off on Sunday to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan;
- South Korea announced more demining equipment for Ukraine;
Human Rights Watch says both Moscow and Kyiv have used cluster munitions.
Russia, Ukraine and the US have not signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.
Mr Putin said he regards the use of cluster bombs by Ukraine as a crime - despite reports by investigative website Bellingcat that Russian forces used the weapons in urban areas at the start of its invasion.
Kyiv has said it will only use cluster bombs to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers when trying to take back its
own territory, and that it will not use them on Russian territory.
Mr Putin's warning comes after Russia's ministry of defence claimed it had thwarted a "terror attack" on the Black Sea port of Sevastopol - in occupied Crimea - on Sunday.
The ministry said it had destroyed seven aerial and two underwater drones.
"This morning, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by seven unmanned aerial vehicles and two unmanned underwater vehicles on objects on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula near the city of Sevastopol was thwarted," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
There were no casualties and no damage, the ministry added.
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region - which borders Ukraine - also said that a woman riding a bicycle in the town of Shebekino had been killed by a Ukrainian missile on Sunday.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod's governor, said the woman was killed when Grad missiles struck a market area, damaging a building and two cars.
In May and June, the Belgorod region was rocked by fighting after militants from a pro-Ukrainian armed group made up of ethnic Russians crossed the border from Ukraine and battled with Russian security forces.
Meanwhile, officials from South Korea announced it was considering sending more demining equipment for Ukraine on Sunday.
It follows President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Kyiv over the weekend, when he pledged more military and humanitarian aid in the fight against Russia.
"We are thinking to expand support on mine detectors and demining equipment as Ukraine's demand for them was assessed to be desperately huge," said the president's deputy national security adviser.
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On Sunday, a Chinese naval flotilla set off from port to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan.
Codenamed "Northern/Interaction-2023", the drill marks enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and, according to Beijing, aims to "safeguard the security of strategic waterways".