Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and reserves the right to continue to use them if Ukraine does, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state media published Sunday. His remarks came after President Biden approved the provision of U.S. cluster munitions for Ukraine this month and the Pentagon said Thursday that Ukraine had received them. According to Human Rights Watch, both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions in the war, killing and injuring civilians.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement that has helped alleviate a global food crisis amid Russia’s invasion, is set to expire Monday. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres sent Putin a letter last week with a proposal to extend the deal, but as of Sunday, Russia had not responded.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
The biggest obstacle to Ukraine’s counteroffensive? Minefields. In a painstakingly slow process that has set the pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, small groups of sappers have often been getting down on their stomachs and crawling across minefields to clear a path for troops to advance.
This Russian defense strategy has been successful in stalling Ukrainian troops and has forced its military to change strategy, Isabelle Khurshudyan and Kamila Hrabchuk report.
Fredrick Kunkle contributed to this report.