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

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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.

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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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