By Tony O’Reilly-
Britain has announced a further £1.3bn in military support to Ukrainian forces , to aid the fight against Russia’s invasion.
The £1.3bn, drawn from the UK’s reserves, is the highest amount of Uk military spending on the war so far, and includes £300m of military kit promised by Boris Johnson earlier this week.
The Uk has been one of Zelenky’s staunches allies, after the Ukranian had tried to urge Britain to ‘close the skies’, a request that would have immediately escalated the war significantly, potentially sparking World War III.
The announcement for fresh supplies comes within weeks of Russia warning the West to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, and threatened lightening fast retaliation against the West if it continued its supply of weapons.
The West have ignored those threats in a united front not to bow to the demands of Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin. However, there are concerns that the public announcements of military support plus the actual financial expansion in weapons could easily escalate the war in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson, US President Joe Biden and leaders from other G7 nations are set to hold talks with Ukrainian president Mr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss the additional support on offer.
The military kit promised by Mr Johnson includes anti-battery radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.
The prime minister is set to host a meeting of arms companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to the demand created by the conflict in Ukraine.
The PM said: “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine, it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.”
The funding comes on top of earlier commitments worth about £1.5bn, which included £400m in humanitarian aid and loan guarantees for £700m in additional World Bank lending.
The White House has also expressed defiance against Putin’s threats, and continued to supply Ukraine with weapons to aid the war against Russia. President Biden has promised a package including artillery shells, radars and other military equipment.
It follows news by the governor of Luhansk on Saturday night that a school had been damaged and dozens of people were trapped after a Russian bomb hit a school in the village of Bilohorivka
The World Health Organisation has documented 200 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine during the war, despite Russia denying it is targeting civilians