MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Russia had a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and reserved the right to use them if such munitions, the use of which he said he regarded as a crime, were deployed against Russian forces in Ukraine.

Ukraine said on Thursday it had received cluster bombs from the United States, its biggest military backer, which says the munitions are needed to compensate for shell shortages faced by Kyiv’s forces at a time when they are mounting a counteroffensive.

Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries because they typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Some of them inevitably fail to explode and can pose a danger for decades, particularly to children.

Kyiv has said it will use cluster bombs to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers when trying to take back its own territory, but will not use them on Russian territory.

Ukraine reports ‘intensified’ combat on eastern front

Putin told state TV Moscow would respond in kind if necessary.

“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.”

Putin said he regarded the use of cluster bombs as a crime and that Russia had so far not needed to use them itself despite having suffered its own ammunition issues in the past.

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.

Putin also told state TV he saw nothing wrong in Russian specialists examining captured Western military equipment and missiles, such as the Storm Shadow missiles Britain supplied to Ukraine, in order to see if there was anything useful that could be used in Russia’s own military hardware.

Fighting intensifies

Ukraine on Sunday said fighting had “intensified” on the eastern front as Russian President Vladimir Putin deemed Kyiv’s counteroffensive a failure.

Ukraine last month began its highly anticipated fightback after stockpiling Western weapons and building up its offensive forces. It has however admitted difficult battles and called on the United States and other allies to provide long-range weapons and artillery.

Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said “the situation has somewhat intensified in the east”. “For two days in a row, the enemy has been actively attacking in the Kupiansk sector in the Kharkiv region. We are on the defence,” Malyar wrote on Telegram.

She nevertheless said Ukrainian forces were “gradually moving forward” near the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces seized in May.

She said Ukrainian soldiers were advancing south of Bakhmut and trying to hold their positions in the north.

On the front near Bakhmut, a commander of the artillery battalion of the 22nd separate mechanised brigade said he was satisfied with the counteroffensive but said progress was painful. “Any day that we take back 10, 20, 100 metres is already a big win and achievement,” said the commander under the call sign “Bulat”.

Battery commander “Volyna” said that “we are encircling Bakhmut, kicking out (Russians) of Klyshchyvka,” a village south of the hotspot city.

Bakhmut, once home to 70,000 people and known for its sparkling wine and salt mine, has been destroyed by the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2023