(Updates with full quote in paragraph 6, context, details)
MOSCOW, Jul 16 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said Russia had an “adequate stockpile” of cluster bombs and reserved the right to use them if such munitions, which he said he considered a crime, were deployed against Russian forces . in Ukraine.
Ukraine said on Thursday it has received cluster bombs from the United States, the largest military financier, which says the ammunition is needed to make up for shell shortages facing Kyiv’s armed forces as they mount a counter-offensive.
Cluster munitions are banned in over 100 countries because they typically release large numbers of smaller bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Some inevitably fail to explode and can pose a danger for decades, especially to children.
Kiev has said it will use cluster bombs to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers when it tries to take back its own territory, but will not use them on Russian territory.
Putin told state television that Moscow would respond in kind if necessary.
“I would like to note that in the Russian Federation there is a sufficient supply of various types of cluster bombs. We have not yet used them. But if they are used against us, of course, we reserve the right to take reciprocal action.”
Putin said he considered the use of cluster bombs a crime and that Russia had not had to use them until now, despite its own ammunition problems in the past.
Human Rights Watch says both Moscow and Kiev have used cluster munitions. Russia, Ukraine and the US have not signed the Cluster Munitions Convention, which bans the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of weapons.
Putin also told state television that he saw nothing wrong with Russian specialists examining captured Western military equipment and missiles, such as the Storm Shadow missiles that Britain supplied to Ukraine, to see if there was anything useful that could be found in Russia’s own country. military hardware could be used. (Reporting by Reuters Edited by Andrew Osborn)
