WASHINGTON, July 7. /TASS/. The new package of military aid to Ukraine will include Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers, ammunition for HIMARS and Patriot, in addition to cluster munitions and conventional artillery shells, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said at a briefing on Friday.
Kahl said that additional munitions for Patriot and HIMARS systems; Bradley infantry fighting vehicles; Stryker armored personnel carriers; precision aerial munitions; demolitions munitions and systems for obstacle clearing; mine clearing equipment and spare parts would be included in the package.
In addition, according to the Pentagon, the new aid package will include 32 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles; 32 Stryker armored personnel carriers; 31 155mm Howitzers; over 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades; Stinger anti-aircraft systems; Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets; AIM-7 missiles for air defense; and tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Washington would provide Ukraine with another military aid package of $800 million, which also includes cluster munitions.
Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Farhan Haq said earlier, commenting on media reports that the US plans to supply such munitions to Ukraine, that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres supports the Convention on Cluster Munitions and is against the use of such weapons on the battlefield.
A cluster bomb, or a cluster munition, can contain hundreds of explosive submunitions. When a cluster munition detonates in the air, submunitions can saturate an area of dozens of square meters. If some of them fail to function immediately but land on the ground without exploding, these submunitions pose a threat to civilians long after the end of conflict. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. By now, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document, but have yet to ratify it.
According to Human Rights Watch, the dud rate of cluster munitions is usually much higher than the declared level, which leads to civilian casualties.