Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s military has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions in response to Ukraine receiving a shipment of similar munitions from the United States.
Speaking on the issue of the U.S. shipment to Ukraine for the first time in a Sunday interview, Putin said that Russia has yet to use the controversial weapons in the ongoing conflict but warned the country would “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses cluster bombs on the battlefield, according to a report from The Associated Press.
“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” Putin said in the interview.
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The interview comes after the Pentagon verified Thursday that a shipment of cluster munitions from the U.S. had arrived in Ukraine. The munitions are intended to help bolster the Ukrainian military’s recent offensive.
Cluster bombs, an explosive that contains and disperses multiple other smaller bomblets, have long been controversial among human rights groups, most notably because of their history of having a high “dud rate” that leave dangerous unexploded ordinance behind that could later endanger noncombatants.
U.S. leaders had debated sending the controversial munitions to Ukraine for months, according to The Associated Press, with President Biden making the final decision last week.
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Many observers believe that Russia has been using cluster munitions in Ukraine during the conflict, despite Putin’s claims, arguing that weapons the U.S. is providing to Ukraine are of better quality and leave behind a much lower rate of unexploded ordinance. For its part, Ukraine has promised to keep the bombs away from densely populated areas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.