Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” President Vladimir Putin said.

Putin’s comments come just days after Ukraine received a delivery of American-made cluster munitions, though a top Ukrainian military official told CNN they had not yet been used.

“Russia has a sufficient supply of various types of cluster munitions,” the Russian leader said during an interview with a pro-Kremlin journalist.

“If they are used against us, we reserve the right to mirror actions.”

Washington’s decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv was controversial and criticized by human rights groups.

The weapons are particularly dangerous to civilians and noncombattants when fired near populated areas because they scatter explosive material, so-called “bomblets,” across large areas. Those that fail to explode on impact can detonate years later, posing a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines.

 

FULL STORY

Is this some kind of 1984 newspeak? Russia already uses cluster munitions.

But the Russians are ALREADY using cluster munitions against civilian targets, whereas the Ukraine wants to use them against the Russian military.

 

A completely different ball game.

 

https://www.politico.eu/article/putin-says-russia-has-sufficient-cluster-bomb-stockpiles-to-strike-back-against-ukraine/#:~:text=In a report in May,%2C hospitals%2C and schools.”

 

There is strong evidence, however, suggesting that Moscow has used cluster bombs in its war against Ukraine. In a report in May, Human Rights Watch said that “since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian armed forces have used cluster munitions in attacks that have caused hundreds of civilian casualties and damaged civilian objects, including homes, hospitals, and schools.”

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_cluster_munitions_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

 

The use of cluster munitions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) has been recorded by a number of eyewitnesses and journalists, as well as representatives of the UN, humanitarian and public organizations.[1][2] In particular, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet, reported on March 30 at least 24 cases since the beginning of the invasion.[3] As of July 1, hundreds of attacks by Russian forces with cluster munitions have already been recorded in the settlements of the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions.[4][5][6] 215 civilians are known to have been killed in these shellings and 474 injured, many of which may go unreported.[6] Both Russia as well as Ukraine have used cluster munitions during the conflict, however, Russian use has been extensive while Ukrainian use has been more limited.[7]