Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.
In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the U.S., Putin said that Russia has not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far. The use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine has been widely documented, including by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organizations, and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes.
“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he said,
Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel Sunday ahead of a scheduled broadcast Sunday night.
The Pentagon said Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the United States had arrived in Ukraine.
The munitions, which are bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets, are seen by the U.S. as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines. U.S. leaders debated the thorny issue for months, before President Joe Biden made the final decision last week.
Cluster bombs have long been criticized by humanitarian groups, and some U.S. allies, because those used in previous conflicts have had a high “dud rate,” meaning that they often leave behind unexploded bomblets that can harm civilians long after a battle has ended.
Proponents argue that Russia has already been using cluster munitions in Ukraine and that the weapons the U.S. is providing have been improved to leave behind far fewer unexploded rounds. Ukraine has promised to use them only away from densely populated areas.
The Ukrainian military said in a regular update Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours Russia had launched two Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, two cruise missiles and two anti-aircraft guided missiles, in addition to 40 airstrikes and 46 attacks from multiple rocket launchers.
Meanwhile, vehicle traffic on the single bridge that links Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea and serves as a key supply route for the Kremlin’s forces in the war with Ukraine came to a standstill Monday after one of its sections was blown up, killing a married couple and wounding their daughter.
Rail traffic across the 19-kilometer (12-mile) Kerch Bridge also stopped but resumed after about six hours.
The strike was carried out by two Ukrainian sea drones, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.
Ukrainian officials were coy about taking responsibility, as they have been in past strikes. But in what appeared to be a tacit acknowledgment, Ukrainian Security Service spokesman Artem Degtyarenko said in a statement that his agency would reveal details of how the “bang” was organized after Ukraine has won the war.
The attack was the second major strike on the bridge since October, when a truck bomb blew up two of its sections.
Video posted by Crimea 24 online news channel showed a section of the bridge tilted and hanging down, but there was no indication any portion had fallen into the water.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told reporters that authorities are carrying out a detailed inspection of the damage before determining how long it will take to repair.
The Kerch Bridge is a conspicuous symbol of Moscow’s claims on Crimea and an essential land link to the peninsula, which Russia captured from Ukraine in 2014. The $3.6 billion bridge is the longest in Europe and is crucial for enabling Russia’s military operations in southern Ukraine during the almost 17-month-long war.
Russia has expanded its presence in Crimea since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Occasional acts of sabotage and other attacks against Russian military and other facilities on the peninsula have occurred since, with the Kremlin blaming Ukraine.
The attack on the bridge comes as Ukrainian forces are trying to press a counteroffensive in several sections of the front line. It also happened just hours before Russia, as expected, announced it is halting a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that allows the export of Ukrainian grain during the war.
Kyiv didn’t initially acknowledge responsibility for last October’s bombing of the bridge, either, but Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged earlier this month that Ukraine struck it to derail Russian logistics. At the time of the attack, Moscow decried it as an act of terror and vowed to step up its own attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. It targeted the Ukrainian power grid over the winter.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, returned to that theme on Monday, calling the Ukrainian government a “terrorist organization.”
“We must blow up their houses and houses of their relatives, search and eliminate their accomplices,” he said.
Russia’s Belgorod region Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attack killed a married couple from the region while their daughter was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Russian authorities said the attack didn’t affect the piers but damaged the decking in a section of one of the two road links. The damage appeared less serious than in October’s attack that took months to repair.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence department, declined to comment Monday on the incident but said: “The peninsula is used by the Russians as a large logistical hub for moving forces and assets deep into the territory of Ukraine. Of course, any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers.”
The Security Service of Ukraine posted a redacted version of a popular lullaby, tweaked to say that the bridge “went to sleep again.”
@U.S. Military Times
