The UK is set to supply Ukraine with 120,000 drones as part of its largest aid package
The UK has announced the transfer of 120,000 drones to Ukraine as part of the largest package of its kind. This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defence, according to the BBC.
The ministry noted that drones are playing an increasingly significant role in combat operations on both sides of the war, which entered its fifth year in February.
Defence Secretary John Healey stated that this package would provide a significant boost to Ukraine. He said that in recent weeks the world’s attention had been focused on the Middle East, and Vladimir Putin was trying to take advantage of this.
“In recent weeks, whilst all attention has been focused on the Middle East, Putin has been trying to distract us, but the Ukrainians continue to fight with tremendous courage, and nothing will make us turn away from continuing to support them for as long as it takes to secure peace,” said John Healy.
The package will include long-range strike drones, reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime unmanned systems. Much of the equipment is manufactured by British companies, including Tekever, Windracers and Malloy Aeronautics.
Deliveries of the new drones began this month. The UK Ministry of Defence emphasised that these technologies have already proven their effectiveness in frontline combat.
The new package is funded as part of a wider programme of military support for Ukraine from the UK, worth £3 billion this year, as well as through ERA funds.
Gilly also confirmed that this year Ukraine will receive hundreds of thousands of artillery shells and thousands of missiles for air defence systems from the UK.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Ukrainian military had managed to capture a Russian position for the first time using only ground and aerial drones.
The announcement of the new aid came ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin, which John Healy will co-chair alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the defence ministers of Ukraine and Germany.
In addition, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is expected to announce further support for Ukraine during a meeting of international finance ministers in Washington. This involves a payment of £752 million as part of a £3.36 billion loan.
Against this backdrop, new Russian strikes are being recorded in Ukraine following the end of the declared Easter truce.
Negotiations to end the war, mediated by the US, are continuing, but the process has been complicated by Washington’s shift in focus to the situation in the Middle East.
Ukraine insists on a complete ceasefire as the first step towards a settlement. The Russian side states that a peace agreement must be agreed upon before hostilities cease.
Following the announcement of a ceasefire on Orthodox Easter, the sides exchanged accusations of violations. The Ukrainian military reported 2,299 violations by Russia, whilst the Russian Ministry of Defence reported 1,971 violations by Ukraine.
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