Kyiv, 30 December 2023 (TDI): The United Kingdom is sending “hundreds of air defense missiles” to Ukraine, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday, after Russia’s biggest air attack on Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion.
The Ministry of Defense said about 200 weapons would be provided.
Shapps denounced the sequence of strikes as “murderous,” noting that the 158 missiles and drones by Russia struck different cities at the same time. In areas including Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Lviv, more than 160 people were injured.
Additionally, the defense secretary implied that the assaults were “an unsuccessful and hopeless effort to regain traction following the devastating loss of numerous conscripts and anticipating the embarrassment of the three-day war entering its third calendar year.”
He explained that the air defense systems supplied by the UK would be restocked with supplies so Ukraine could effectively intercept Russian missiles and drones.
The delivery is intended to protect infrastructure and people from bombings and drone strikes.
On the other hand, given the nearly two years of continued violence in the region and the emergence of a new conflict in the Middle East, the current declaration raises concerns about the possible withering of Western support for Ukraine.
The most recent tranche of US support was approved this week, but further aid packages for Ukraine will need fresh approval from Congress.
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There have been disagreements among European countries on help for Ukraine; this month, Hungary blocked an EU aid proposal worth £43 billion (€50 billion).
Shapps said, “Putin is testing Ukraine’s defenses and the West’s resolve, hoping that he can clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. But he is wrong.”
Adding, “Ukraine’s degradation of the Russian Black Sea fleet has proven it is still in this fight to win. And today’s air defense package sends an undeniable message, in the face of Russian barbarity that the UK remains absolutely committed to supporting Ukraine.”
He called on the West “to come together and redouble our efforts to get Ukraine what they need to win”.
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