President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has enough cluster bombs. He said, if such bombs are used against its troops in Ukraine, Moscow has the right to use the deadly weapons in stock. He said this in an interview given to Russian state television. Portions of the interview were released on Sunday.
Putin said, of course we will use (cluster bombs). If they use it against us, we also have the right to retaliate. However, he considers the use of cluster bombs as a crime. That’s why he didn’t use this bomb in Ukraine until now. But if necessary, Moscow will have to retaliate.
He said, I would like to mention that the Russian Federation has a sufficient amount of various types of cluster bombs in its stockpile. We haven’t used them yet. But of course if they use it against us, we have the right to respond accordingly, Putin said. Recently, the United States has given Ukraine cluster bombs. Cluster bombs carry a high risk of civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed that at least 9 military drones of Ukraine have been shot down in the Crimean Peninsula occupied by Russia. The Air Defense Forces and the Black Sea Fleet intercepted nine Ukrainian drones in the Crimean port of Sevastopol early Sunday morning. Mikhail Razvozaev, the pro-Russian governor appointed in Crimea, made such a claim. He said that there was no damage to the infrastructure of the city or any ship in the sea.
Ukraine, on the other hand, lost 20 percent of its Western-supplied weapons and equipment at the start of the counteroffensive. Casualty rates decreased as campaigns slowed and commanders changed tactics. According to US and European officials, these weapons and equipment were damaged or destroyed on the battlefield in the first two weeks of the offensive. These include important armored personnel carriers and tanks from the West. News from AFP, CNN and Al Jazeera.
