Extract from ABC News
ABC News HomepagePresident Vladimir Putin says Russia has a "sufficient stockpile" of cluster bombs and that Moscow reserves the right to use them in the invasion of Ukraine.
Key points:
- Mr Putin vowed to take "reciprocal action" when it came to cluster bombs which Ukraine has received from the US
- The munitions are banned in more than 100 countries, but Kyiv vowed to use them to dislodge enemy soldiers
- A 33-year-old man was killed and at least seven others were injured from Russian shelling this weekend, Ukrainian officials say
"Of course, if they are used against us, we reserve the right to take reciprocal action," Mr Putin said in a state TV interview, excerpts of which were published on Sunday.
Ukraine has received cluster bombs from the United States, munitions banned in more than 100 countries.
Kyiv has pledged to only use them to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.
Also called cluster munitions, the bombs open in the air and release smaller "bomblets" across a wide area.
The bomblets are designed to take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.
Rights groups say cluster munitions pose an immediate threat to civilians during conflict and leave unexploded bombs that can pose a risk for decades to come.
Mr Putin's threat came after a civilian was killed and another was wounded by Russian shelling in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, while seven were injured in a village in Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had targeted the Russian town of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border with Grad missiles, killing a woman riding her bike.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia. Reuters was not able to verify what happened.
The town of Shebekino, about 5 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, has been repeatedly targeted by what Russia says is indiscriminate shelling by Ukraine's armed forces.
Kharkiv fighting intensifies
The Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine's east and south-east have seen fierce combat throughout much of the 17 months since Moscow invaded its neighbour, with Kyiv's forces fighting to liberate areas Russian forces now occupy.
In a move widely condemned as illegal, Russia said last year it was annexing Zaporizhzhia and other parts of Ukraine, and it controls a nuclear power plant there, Europe's largest.
But the regional capital, the city of Zaporizhzhia, remains under Kyiv's control.
Ukraine recaptured much of the eastern Kharkiv region in September, with Russian forces occupying now only a small strip of land there.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram that Russian forces have been attacking in the direction of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region for two successive days.
"We are on the defensive," Ms Maliar wrote.
"There are fierce battles. The positions of both sides change dynamically several times a day."
A 33-year-old man died and a man was wounded in Russian firing at residential buildings in the village of Kolodiazne in the region on Saturday night, Oleh Sinehubov, Kharkiv's governor, said on the Telegram messaging app.
He said Russia had launched four S-400 surface-to-air missiles overnight at the city of Kharkiv, slightly damaging a residential building.
Zaporizhzhia Governor Yuriy Malashko posted on Telegram that three women and four men were injured.
A number of houses were damaged in heavy Russian shelling from multiple rocket launchers on the village of Stepnohirske on Saturday afternoon, he added.
It comes after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Yoon Suk-yeol as the South Korean president made a surprise weekend visit.
Over the past day, there had been 48 instances of Russian artillery firing on a number of towns and villages in the region, Mr Malashko said.
Russia shelled the city of Zaporizhzhia, damaging at least 16 buildings, Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the city council, said on Telegram, adding that one district was without electricity on Sunday morning.
A Russian-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, Vladimir Rogov, said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a school in the village of Stulneve, while air defence forces intercepted a drone over the city of Tokmak.
Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday it had destroyed a number of Ukrainian weapons depots in Zaporizhzhia region over the past day.
Ukraine's top military command said Russia was trying to stop Ukraine's advance there, heavily shelling the area.
Mr Zelenskyy vowed again on Saturday to liberate all the land that Russia occupies.
"We cannot leave any of our people, any towns and villages under Russian occupation," he said in his nightly video address.
"Wherever the Russian occupation continues, violence and humiliation of people reign."
Reuters/ABC
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