Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow has a “sufficient reserve” of its own cluster munitions and said Moscow reserves the right to use the controversial weapons for “tit-for-tat actions.”
Kyiv received a stockpile of cluster munitions, or cluster bombs — weapons containing multiple explosive submunitions, or bomblets, that are released over a wide area — from the U.S. last week, but Putin said Moscow is now ready to deploy the same weaponry against Ukraine.
“Russia has a sufficient reserve of various kinds of cluster munitions, various kinds. So far, we have not done it, we have not used them, and we have not had such a need, despite a certain shortage of munitions at a certain point in time.
But we didn’t do this,” Putin told the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, according to comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.
“But of course, if they [cluster munitions] are used against us, we reserve the right to tit-for-tat actions,” the president said.
He said the U.S. is supplying cluster munitions to Kyiv because of Ukraine’s general shortage of shells, claiming “the Ukrainian army spends up to 5,000-6,000 155mm caliber shells per day of fighting, while the U.S. produces 15,000 a month.”
“They have a shortage, and Europe already doesn’t have enough [shells],” Putin said, adding “so, they didn’t find anything better than to propose the use of cluster munitions.”
The U.S.′ decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions comes as Kyiv’s stockpiles of conventional artillery shells run low, and as it looks to break through Russian defenses in its counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory in the south and east of the country.
Still, the supply of such weapons is controversial.
Though not banned by the United States, Russia, or Ukraine, cluster bombs are outlawed in over 100 countries under a global pact, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, because of the danger they pose to civilians. Children are seen to be at particular risk as the bomblets can fail to explode until they’re later picked up and are easily unseen and trodden on. Human rights groups condemn the weapons and have called for a complete ban on their use.
A number of Ukraine’s international partners have balked at the U.S. decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv, though both Russia and Ukraine are believed to have already deployed cluster munitions since the war started in February 2022, according to the U.N.-partnered Cluster Munition Monitor civil society group.
The United Nations called on the warring parties to immediately cease all use of cluster munitions. It has deplored their use, stating that “cluster munitions are not only dangerous in the short-term but pose severe long-term risks to local communities.” Up to 40% of cluster munitions fail to explode on impact, the U.N. said, which allows for “decades of intermittent detonations.”
Dangerous Precedent?
The endorsement and supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine have raised concerns among a number of Ukraine’s allies — the U.K., Canada, Spain, and Germany voiced concerns over the move.
The White House said it had received written assurances from Ukraine that the munitions would not be used in civilian and urban areas and that records would be made of where they are used. Ukraine said it would also conduct demining operations after the war to mitigate any potential harm to civilians.
However, legal and security experts have said the very use of cluster munitions could undermine international humanitarian law.
“How a state conducts itself during a war is important. Irrespective of the aggression by Russia, and regardless of who has joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the rules of international humanitarian law must be respected by all parties to the armed conflict,” Chatham House’s Patricia Lewis and Rashmin Sagoo said in a note last week.
“These rules are designed to balance military necessity with humanitarian purpose – they seek to protect civilians and diminish unnecessary suffering. Ukraine is fighting not just for its territory but for the international rule of law; its own conduct of hostilities must comply with the rules of war,” they noted, adding that “attention will now need to turn to scrutinizing how Ukraine deploys the U.S. weapons and whether it can live up to its assurances on how they will be used.”
Addressing legal and ethical considerations when it comes to the use of cluster bombs, RUSI’s experts noted that a significant proportion of other munitions also fail to explode, making cluster munitions no different.
In addition, they noted that Ukraine is looking to employ those weapons against Russian field fortifications in open countryside that are already surrounded by unmarked minefields and unexploded Russian ordinance — making the areas already highly dangerous for civilians in any case.
