Britain will provide Ukraine with more than £500 million in new defence missiles and systems, the Ministry of Defence has announced.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK will contribute £150 million for the first time to Nato's prioritised Ukraine requirements list (Purl), a programme designed to ensure air defence missiles reach Ukraine quickly.
A further 1,000 lightweight multirole missiles, manufactured in Belfast, will be delivered to Ukraine under a £390 million deal.
Thursday’s announcement comes as Mr Healey co-hosts meetings in Brussels with the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group and Nato defence ministers.
Mr Healey and German defence minister Boris Pistorius will co-chair the meeting, attended by Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Under the Purl scheme, Nato countries work together to buy defence equipment from the United States for Ukraine.
Defence Secretary John Healey MP said: “As we approach the fifth year of (Vladimir) Putin's full-scale invasion, the UK and our allies are more committed than ever to supporting Ukraine.
“I'm proud of the UK's continued leadership and pleased to confirm a new half a billion pound package of air defence, including £150 million for Purl, to help Ukrainians defend against Putin's relentless drone and missile attacks.”
As news of the missiles deal emerged, Ukraine’s air said force said the country had been targeted in a fresh wave of strikes from overnight.
Moscow launched 24 ballistic missile, one cruise missile and 219 drones, officials said.
Air defence units shot down or neutralised 16 missiles and 197 drones, the air force said in a post on Telegram.
It added that the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa were the main targets of the strike.
The latest bombardment comes days after Mr Healey called Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians “brutal” and “cynical” during a visit to Kyiv.
The Defence Secretary condemned Russian President Mr Putin following drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities that killed at least four and wounded dozens last week.
He told the BBC in Kyiv at the time: "He talks about peace, but he is stepping up and escalating his attacks.
"Not attacks on the Ukrainian military, but on civilians and cities like this."
He added: "It's brutal, it's cynical, it's exactly why we have got to work so hard to help Ukraine secure a peace."
