Vladimir Putin Says Syria Hasn’t Seen Russia’s Full Military Capability, ‘We Have More Military Means And We Will Use Them’

Vladimir Putin says that Syria hasn’t even come close to experiencing the full military capability of Russia, and that the country will use their full force “if necessary.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also praised his country’s secret forces, the Soviet KGB, for planning 30 attacks and uncovering 320 foreign spies over the past year.

The Daily Mail reports that Vladimir Putin is poising himself to increase funding to military efforts in Syria in a bid to fight terrorists groups in the country. Though Putin has been criticized by human rights organizations for his use of cluster bombs in Syria, he isn’t backing down and says that he is prepared to use even more force in the region “if necessary.” In fact, Putin notes that Russia’s current military presence is far from showcasing Russia’s full military capabilities and that he is not afraid to use more advanced military technologies if required.

“I want to stress that these are by far not all of our capabilities. We have more military means. And we will use them — if need be.”

Though Russia is not operating at full military potential in Syria, Putin still praises his military pilots and intelligence agents for all of their efforts and notes they are versed in modern weapons. Putin also was sure to praise the Soviet KGB for their secret operations regarding 30 different attacks and the discovery of 320 different foreign spies during 2015.

“I want to point out that this year, thanks to the efforts of the FSB employees, more than 30 crimes of a terrorist nature have been prevented. Our counter-intelligence service carries a great responsibility. This year they identified more than 320 traitorous officers and agents of foreign secret services.”

Putin knows a lot about how the KGB operates, as he was a former KGB agent himself. Vladimir Putin worked as a KGB agent for 16 years. In fact, Putin came from humble means and became heavily interested in the “spy life” as a teen and learned that the quickest path into the Soviet KGB was through law school. Therefore, after five years of law school at age 22, Putin was recruited into the KGB and served there for the next 16 years. Putin also was head of the FSB before rising to political power in 1999, and eventually becoming president.

With Putin’s interesting KGB background, it isn’t difficult to understand why the controversial leader is not afraid of using military force to get what he wants for his country. Though the international community is voicing concerns over Putin’s use of cluster bombs in Syria, Putin is remaining steady in his course in the embattled region and his fight against terrorists. The concerns about Putin’s military methods in Syria stem from the cluster bombs, which the Fiscal Times claims many feel is a human rights violation.

Putin says Russia ready to use ‘more military means’ in Syria – report: The Russian armed forces have not empl… https://t.co/pSJsOK1d7L

— Updates Metro Manila (@updatesmanila) December 19, 2015

Human Rights Watch notes that cluster bombs are banned in many countries, and that the concern comes over the potential of civilian deaths.

“Cluster bombs, or cluster munitions, are typically made up of a shell containing smaller ‘bomblets’ – sometimes hundreds or more. The smaller bombs disperse over a wide area when the shell releases them, but in practice, many don’t explode immediately. They can remain dangerous for years, and have caused an untold number of civilian deaths and injuries even years after the conflict in which they were used has ended.”

The Human Rights Watch is encouraging both Syria and Russia to pledge not to use cluster bombs or munitions in the region and to immediately join the ban. However, Putin has not responded to the group’s request, and instead claims Russia is prepared to use even more advanced military technologies in the country if “need be.”

What do you think of Putin’s statements that Russia has “more military means” and that they “will use them”?

[Photo by the AP]