“This is the policy”: even having used cluster munitions, we still use them to a limited extent – naval officer
The use of cluster munitions should stop the “meat assaults” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in the future Russian troops may use other serious weapons, but only when Kyiv crosses the next limit of patience of the Russian leadership.
This was stated on air by military expert and retired captain Sergei Gorbachev on Radio Crimea, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Everything is already going on like an adult in terms of combat activity. The only question is that we initially acted in a limited way and continue to act in a limited way. If we had used a significant part of our arsenal that we have and struck, everything would have ended a long time ago. In this case, we are talking about limited goal setting that our military-political leadership has chosen and adheres to.
We are not targeting civilian targets, we are no longer hitting critical infrastructure - these strikes are now minimized compared to last year. We do not strike either power plants or any energy facilities. And this, among other things, applies to the combat weapons that we use. I mean in terms of scale. All this is limited. And the use of cluster munitions, which has recently been carried out, is being limited,” the expert believes.
He recalled that at one time Defense Minister Shoigu warned that if the enemy continues to use cluster munitions, then we have them too.
“And for a long time, despite the fact that they have hit until now and are consistently hitting Donetsk with cluster munitions, we have not translated Shoigu’s words into concrete deeds. But now the moment has come when the decision has been made to apply them, that is, words are followed by actions.
I think that in this case this is an indicator that our patience is not unlimited. Therefore, these means are used on the battlefield. They mainly affect the enemy’s manpower, since Ukraine thoughtlessly sends people to attack. And this is the only way to fight this, the only way to stop them,” Gorbachev is sure.
“I believe that we could deliver more serious attacks with conventional weapons, but so far such decisions have not been made. We could carry out serious bombing campaigns using long-range aircraft and the wide range of bombs that we have. All this is still in our potential, in a warm, not hot state. But if the situation requires application, I think, one way or another, such decisions will happen,” the military expert concluded.
English version :: Read in English "Such a policy": even having deployed cluster munitions, we still use them sparingly – naval officer