Britain will transfer arms worth 500 million pounds (about $620 million) to Ukraine, in what will be the biggest military aid package to London since the start of the war, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
According to him, the package will include, among other things, 400 vehicles, 60 boats, about 4 million rounds of ammunition for small arms, as well as more than 1.6 thousand attack missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. In addition, Kiev will receive Storm Shadow air-to-surface missiles, the range of which is about 250 km.
Sunak emphasized that Ukraine’s support is “vital for the security of all of Europe.” If Russia wins the armed conflict, then the Russian authorities “will not stop at the Polish border”, noted the British Prime Minister.
“The UK will always play its part at the forefront of European security, protecting our national interests and supporting our NATO allies,” Sunack said.
According to Bloomberg, the total volume of British military aid to Ukraine in the financial year 2024 will be 3 billion British pounds sterling ($3.7 billion). In total, since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, London has pledged almost 12 billion pounds sterling ($14.8 billion) to Kiev, of which 7 billion is military support and the rest humanitarian and economic.
Sunak announced the new supplies after the US passed a $60.64 billion aid bill for Ukraine.
Zelensky: The Russian strike on the TV tower in Kharkiv is part of an intimidation campaign
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian missile strike that destroyed a television tower in Kharkiv was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing efforts to intimidate the population of Ukraine’s second-largest city, which has been the subject of increasingly frequent attacks in recent weeks, the Associated Press reported. pres.
The aim of the strike was “to make terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkiv’s connectivity and access to information,” Zelensky said in his address last night.
The northeastern part of Kharkiv Oblast sits on the roughly 1,000-kilometer front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been fighting each other for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The front line hasn’t changed much in the conditions of a war of attrition, fought mainly with artillery, drones and in the trenches.
Since late March, Russia has stepped up pressure on Kharkiv, apparently to take advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defense systems. Russian units hit the local power grid and hit apartment blocks.
On Monday, a Russian X-59 missile struck the 250-meter-tall TV tower, hitting it roughly in the middle, causing part of it to collapse and the broadcast to stop.
A Washington think tank said Russia may be planning a ground attack on Kharkiv.
“The Kremlin is conducting a coordinated air and information operation to destroy the city of Kharkiv, persuade Ukrainians to flee, force millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge elsewhere in the country before a possible future Russian offensive against the city or another part of Ukraine,” it said. Institute for the Study of War assessment.
Ukraine and the US have started working on an agreement in the security sphere
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a telephone conversation with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, that the United States and Ukraine have “started working on a bilateral agreement in the field of security”, reported France Press.
“Our teams – of Ukraine and the United States – have started working on a bilateral security agreement,” Zelensky said in his daily video address, also assuring that Kiev and Washington had made progress on the issue of supplying US long-range missiles ATACMS.
In recent months, Ukraine has signed security agreements with several European countries, including France, Britain and Finland.
These agreements essentially represent commitments by these countries to continue to provide long-term military and financial support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion, according to AFP.
On Saturday, the US House of Representatives approved a new $61 billion aid package for Ukraine that had been blocked for months by political wrangling in Washington.
Biden promised Volodymyr Zelensky that he would send this aid “quickly” after the US Congress finally passes it to meet the “urgent needs” of Ukraine.
“I am grateful to the president, his team and all members of the US Congress,” Zelensky said in his video address, after earlier thanking Biden in a phone call for his “unreserved support” for Ukraine.
Russian drone attack on Odessa, 9 people injured
Nine people were injured in the nighttime drone attack in Odessa, including children aged 12 and 9 and two babies, informed Oleg Kiper, the chairman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
Three people in moderate condition were hospitalized.
The four children were also hospitalized.
According to the regional governor, debris from a destroyed drone damaged residential buildings, and a fire broke out at the place where the debris fell.
According to initial information, there were no casualties, BTA reported.
At least 14 apartments were damaged, informed the mayor of the city of Odessa, Gennady Trukhanov.
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