The Biden administration announced Friday it would send cluster munitions to Ukraine despite concerns from many Democratic lawmakers about civilian harm.
Ukrainian leaders and Republican lawmakers have spent months urging President Joe Biden to green-light the controversial weapons, which are explosives that release smaller submunitions over a certain area. Their use is banned by an international treaty with more than 100 participants, although the United States and Ukraine are not among them.
The dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICMs, were unveiled as part of a broader $300 million security assistance package that also includes Patriot air defense system munitions, AIM-7 missiles for air defense and HIMARS artillery ammunition.
