By John Sparks, global reporter
A press reporter with the Russian state-run Rossiya television channel got the scoop on cluster munitions on Sunday, releasing applies from an interview with President Vladimir Putin on his Telegram account.
However, there was an issue with Putin’s musings on cluster munitions – much of it was not real.
Here’s what he informed Rossiya’s Pavel Zarubin: “I wish to note that in the Russian Federation there is an adequate stockpile of various type of cluster bombs.
“We have actually not utilized them yet. But of course if they are used against us, we reserve the right to take reciprocal action.”
The obvious problem here is the fact that Russia has been using them since the beginning of the war.
Cast your mind back to the initial attack on Ukrainian’s second largest city, Kharhiv. We have actually probably all seen footage of cluster bomblets exploding next to apartment blocks and shopping malls in residential districts.
Then there is the deadly attack of the Kramatorsk railway station on 8 April 2022. Two Soviet-era Tochka-U missiles, fitted with cluster bombs, were dropped in and around the station.
The consequences were devastating – 63 people were killed and 150 were injured. The Russians denied responsibility, claiming the Ukrainians had fired on themselves.
How about a report from civil rights group Human Rights Watch, detailing a cluster bomb strike on a medical facility in the town called Vuhldar?
HRW called it a “callous attack [that] has actually killed and injured civilians, and damaged a hospital”.
What is Putin doing? Well, he is trying to stir the pot after Ukraine announced that it had received cluster munitions from the US.
It is controversial but the Ukrainians argue they are needed as they grapple with ammunition shortages during a critical period in their counter-offensive
The key thing here is the Russian leader’s attempts to court – and maintain – public support back at home. According to Putin, Russia is always the victim, ensconced in a struggle to protect itself from the rapacious hands of the West.
But his attempts to take the moral high ground – while delivering a plausible threat – will certainly be shrugged off in Kyiv.
The individuals of Kharkiv and Kramatorsk and in other places understand precisely what a cluster bomb attack looks and seems like.
