Aha Dua Permata: Ukrainians widely use cluster munitions on battlefield

Ukrainians widely use cluster munitions on battlefield — Putin

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko and Russia's President Vladimir Putin
©Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS

Cluster munitions are used in the widest possible way in the zone of the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while answering journalists' questions during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Asked whether the Ukrainian side was now using cluster munitions on the battlefield, Putin replied: "They are being used, and in the widest possible way."

"But I have already commented on this. I have nothing to add," he said.

The cluster munitions issue, he believes, "reflects perfectly what is happening in the world as a whole."

"What I mean is this: there is one country that thinks it is exceptional - the United States," Putin explained. "Even what it considers to be a crime, it takes the liberty of doing itself. In fact, the US is using cluster munitions in this case, with the Ukrainians’ hands," he pointed out.

Putin noted that Washington considered the use of such munitions as a crime, but at the same time "it feels free to do it, and this is the main problem of today's international relations."

He is certain that for this reason a vast majority of participants in international communication were working together with Russia for the creation of a multipolar world, because almost no one is satisfied with such a state of affairs.

"I say 'almost' because even those countries which are allies of the United States, I assure you, do not like this situation, either. They don’t like being treated as backstage extras," Putin said.

"Yes, they [the US - TASS) use [cluster munitions], unfortunately. They themselves call it a crime and keep doing it," Putin concluded.

Watch Russian Ka-52 Helicopter Wreck Ukrainian Tank

The Ka-52s, which continue to perform missions in the Russian Special Military Operational Zone, are widely recognized for their performance characteristics and high durability.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released a video of a Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopter destroying a Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) tank in the southern Donetsk region of the front line.

The footage shows the helicopter launching a guided missile, which exploded after hitting the armored vehicle.

The clip was released in the midst of Kiev's bungled counteroffensive, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says has claimed the lives of at least 71,000 UAF soldiers.

Ukrainian Military Casualties Exceed 400 in Donetsk, Zaporozhye Directions

The Ukrainian military lost over 400 soldiers in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, adding that six enemy attacks have been repelled in these areas.

©Sputnik / Evgeny Biyatov / Go to the mediabank

“The enemy lost up to 275 military personnel [in the Donetsk direction], four armored combat vehicles, four vehicles, three US-made M777 artillery systems, as well as the Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount,” the ministry said in a statement, specifying that four attacks have been repelled in this area

Two attacks have been repelled in the Zaporozhye direction near the Rabotino settlement, the ministry said, adding that a Ukrainian assault brigade near Verbovoye has been attacked.

“More than 145 Ukrainian military personnel and three vehicles were destroyed,” the ministry said. Moreover, the Russian troops have repelled two attacks in the Krasny Liman direction in the past 24 hours.

“In the South Donetsk direction, units of [Russia’s] Vostok grouping of troops repelled an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces in the area of the settlement of Novomayorskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic … Enemy losses in this direction amounted to more than 175 Ukrainian military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, four cars, two D-30 howitzers, and one D-20 gun,” the ministry said.

Russian forces have destroyed two unmanned boats of the Ukrainian armed forces in the southwestern part of the Black Sea over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Over the past 24 hours, the Black Sea Fleet discovered and destroyed two unmanned semi-submersible boats of the armed forces of Ukraine in the southwestern part of the Black Sea," the ministry wrote on Telegram.