The United Kingdom has stepped up its support for Ukraine as the war approaches its 11th month. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that 14 of its main tanks and additional artillery support would be brought to Ukraine.
The prime minister’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the country will be sending a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks would be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks. Along with the tanks, around 30 self-propelled AS90 guns are also expected to be included in the military assistance to Ukraine. The UK will also start training Ukrainian forces to use the tanks and guns in the coming days.
“As the people of Ukraine approach their second year living under relentless Russian bombardment, the Prime Minister is dedicated to ensuring Ukraine wins the war,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Alongside his closest military advisors, he has analyzed the military picture, looked at the strategic impact of the UK’s support, and identified a window where he thinks the UK and its allies can have maximum impact.”
The British defense minister is set to update parliament with details of the security support Monday. The Russian Embassy in London criticized the move and said that sending Ukraine tanks would only prolong the war, resulting in more casualties, and further indicate that the UK is involved in the war that Moscow calls a “special military operation.”
The announcement follows Sunak’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Sunak detailed the country’s intention to increase support for Ukraine, including providing tanks and artillery systems. Last week, Sunak’s office said the UK would coordinate its support with allies after Germany, France, and the United States all signaled that they would provide Ukraine with armored vehicles.
The British defense ministry, in its intelligence bulletin on Tuesday, said Russia resumed its long-range missile strikes on Ukraine on Saturday against the country’s infrastructure, marking the first time in 15 days. The ministry said that Russia was focused on bombarding the country’s electricity grid like its previous waves of strikes.
The ministry also said that an AS-4 KITCHEN anti-ship missile was likely what hit an apartment complex in Dnipro city, led to at least 40 people dead and that Russia falsely alleged that a Ukrainian air defense missile was what struck the buildings.
“KITCHEN is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas. Similar weapons have been responsible for other incidents of civilian mass-casualties,” said the ministry, citing the strike that hit a shopping center in Kremenchuk back in June last year.