Pentagon announces $800 million aid package for Ukraine, including cluster munitions

The U.S. will provide Ukraine with a $800 million military aid package, which will include cluster munitions, armored vehicles, and other types of ammunition, Under Secretary for Defense Policy Colin Kahl announced on July 7.

Next to the cluster munitions, or the dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), the package will also include artillery rounds, ammunition for Patriot air defense systems, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, precision aerial ammunition, and various other support equipment.

The step to provide DPICM could prove controversial due to humanitarian concerns over the use of cluster munitions. The unexploded bomblets may pose a danger to the civilian population in the area long after the hostilities end.

More than 100 countries joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, banning their use, production, and stockpiling. The U.S., Russia, and Ukraine are not among the signatories.

According to Kahl, Ukraine pledged it will not use DPICMs in civilian-populated areas and has committed to post-conflict demining efforts.

The proportion of bomblets that do not explode upon impact is called the "dud rate." According to Kahl, the munitions provided to Ukraine will not have a dud rate higher than 2.5%, compared to 30-40% of cluster munition that Russia uses in Ukraine.

Zaluzhnyi: Counteroffensive underequipped but advances daily

Ukrainian forces are advancing “at least 500 meters” every day in the counteroffensive despite the lack of crucial hardware like F-16 fighter jets, the Ukrainian armed forces’ commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview the Washington Post published on June 30.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek