Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday announced a £50 million ($59 million) package of defence aid for Ukraine during his first visit to Kyiv since becoming leader of the UK.
The package is comprised of 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter Iranian-supplied drones, including dozens of radars and anti-drone electronic warfare capability, Downing Street said.
The UK will send expert army medics and engineers to regions where critical infrastructure were hit by Russian missiles to offer specialised support.
Sunak also confirmed further aid packages, including tens of thousands of winter kits for Ukrainian troops, £12 million ($14 million) for the World Food Programme’s response and £4 million ($4.8 million) for the International Organisation for Migration to help provide generators, shelter, water repairs, and mobile health clinics.
According to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, by Wednesday, the UK had provided over £2.3 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of military aid, including hundreds of armoured vehicles, thousands of anti-tank weapons, and Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems.
Sunak’s visit came after a week that saw tensions between the West and Russia ratchet up after a missile hit a Polish village close to the Ukrainian border and sparked concerns Russia had struck a NATO member state.
Tensions have eased since by the likely attribution of the hit to Ukrainian defence forces, but Russian missile strikes on the country have shown no sign of relenting.
According to Downing Street, Ukrainian forces say Russia launched more than 148 missile strikes on critical infrastructure last week, leaving around 10 million people without power.
Sunak laid flowers at a memorial for the war dead, lit a candle at a memorial for victims of the Holodomor famine, met first responders at a fire station, and was shown captured Iranian-made drones which had been used to target and bomb civilians in recent months, Downing Street said.
The prime minister said it was “deeply humbling” to meet those who are defending “the principles of sovereignty and democracy.”
“I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace,” Sunak said, following the steps of his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Earlier on Saturday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Iran’s nuclear programme is now “more advanced than ever before” and that the regime has “resorted to selling Russia the armed drones that are currently killing civilians in Ukraine.”
Speaking at an annual international security forum in Bahrain, Cleverly said a Royal Navy frigate has intercepted twice this year “speedboats laden with surface-to-air missiles and engines for cruise missiles” in waters south of Iran.
He said the UK’s “determined” to work with British allies to “counter the Iranian threat, interdict the smuggling of conventional arms, and prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.”
