Britain to give Ukraine over 10,000 drones for war with Russia

LONDON (AFP): Britain will supply Ukraine with more than 10,000 drones to aid its fight against Russia’s invasion, the government said Thursday as Defense Secretary Grant Shapps visited Kyiv.

The defense ministry said it was spending a further £125 million ($160 million) on “cutting-edge drones,” bringing its overall drone package to Ukraine to £325 million.

The money will deliver more than 10,000 drones for Ukraine’s armed forces throughout the year, a statement read.

Most will be first-person view drones, as well as one-way attack drones, surveillance and maritime drones.

“I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UK’s world-leading defense industries,” said Shapps, on his third visit to Ukraine, who met his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Britain says it has committed more than £7 billion of military support to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. It has also trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops.

It was the first country to provide longer-range weapons to the Ukrainian military, announcing last May that it would send air-launched Storm Shadow missiles.

The defense ministry said that Ukrainian troops have used different types of drones in the conflict, “destroying and damaging thousands of pieces of Russian equipment and vehicles.”

Kyiv, facing a shortage of manpower and weapons, is currently on the back foot in the conflict with Russia having made recent front-line battlefield gains.