Britain boosts military aid to Ukraine

FE Team | Published: June 30, 2022 23:02:36

A man walks past a huge crater made from the hit of a Russian rocket in an industrial zone of Kharkiv on Thursday — AFP

MADRID, June 30 (AFP): Britain pledged another o1 billion ($1.2 billion) in military aid to Ukraine Wednesday to help it fend off Russia's invasion, including air-defence systems and drones.
The fresh funds will bring Britain's total military support to Kyiv since the start of the war in late February to o2.3 billion, Downing Street said in a statement.
The package includes "sophisticated air-defence systems, uncrewed aerial vehicles, innovative new electronic warfare equipment and thousands of pieces of vital kit for Ukrainian soldiers," it said.
This will be a "first step" to allow Ukraine to go beyond its "valiant defence" efforts and move towards "mounting offensive operations" to regain territory.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin's attacks against Ukraine were "increasingly barbaric" as the Russian leader "fails to make the gains he had anticipated and hoped for and the futility of this war becomes clear to all.
"UK weapons, equipment and training are transforming Ukraine's defences against this onslaught," the statement quoted him as saying.
"And we will continue to stand squarely behind the Ukrainian people to ensure Putin fails in Ukraine."
Britain was one of the first nations to provide Ukraine with lethal military aid such as anti-tank missiles in response to Russia's invasion. It has also been involved in training Ukrainian soldiers.
Putin denies Russian
responsibility for
Kremenchuk strike
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Moscow's forces were responsible for a strike on a crowded shopping centre in the Ukrainian town of Kremenchuk earlier this week, in which 18 people were killed.
"Our army does not attack any civilian infrastructure site. We have every capability of knowing what is situated where," Putin told a news conference in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat.
"Nobody among us shoots just like that, randomly. It is normally done based on intelligence data on targets" and with "high-precision weapons".
"I am convinced that this time, everything was done in this exact manner," Putin said.