UK and Northern European Allies Announce New Major Military Support Package for Ukraine

(Patria) - The United Kingdom and other Northern European allies have announced a new military support package for Ukraine worth $123 million, aimed at assisting its armed forces in clearing minefields, maintaining vehicles, and protecting key infrastructure, AFP reported.

The package, to be provided with money from the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), managed by the UK, will supply equipment to help its soldiers cross minefields and bridge rivers and trenches, the British Ministry of Defence said.

It is also sending heavy-duty vehicles to destroy Russian anti-tank obstacles and help Ukraine build defensive positions to protect critical national infrastructure, it added.

The new aid comes as Kyiv's backers in the West race to ramp up weapons deliveries ahead of winter.

It also coincides with the signing of final contracts from a previously announced IFU package, which will see more than £70 million worth of air defence assets sent to Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence stated. These include the MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin platform, which can track and destroy drones and protect infrastructure.

The recently appointed British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the new air defence systems would help protect civilians from Russia's "barbaric bombing campaign" of Ukraine. He added that the new equipment would "give Ukrainian soldiers what they need to break through Russia's deadly minefields".

Shapps will announce the support today alongside counterparts from IFU partner countries at a wider meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels focused on Ukraine.

The IFU, a funding mechanism that uses contributions from international partners to procure military aid for Ukraine, was launched by the UK and Denmark in 2022 and has so far raised £785 million. Contributions have come from its founders and five other members: Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Lithuania, and it is managed by London.

British Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said the new package was "the latest in a now and ongoing effort by fifty countries" to support Ukraine's war effort. He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had underestimated "the strength and resilience of his opposition".

"If we stick together and stay the course, Russia will continue to lose, Ukraine will prevail and the rules that matter for global security will exist," Radakin said.