Following the large-scale Russian strikes against Ukrainian military targets and infrastructure earlier this week, British defense minister Ben Wallace has said on Thursday that Britain will donate AMRAAM anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv.
According to Wallace, the UK is going to provide Ukraine with Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to help the country defend its skies from attacks and strengthen Ukraine’s overall missile defense.
According to Sky News, Ukraine is expected to receive dozens of missiles in the coming weeks along with hundreds of additional air defense missiles of other types as well as more aerial drones and 18 howitzers.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine in late February, the UK has provided around $2.5 billion worth of military aid to Kyiv.
Britain, however, is not providing the weapons that launch them, and the missiles are expected to be fired from US-supplied NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems).
The Biden administration promised eight NASAMS to Kyiv, two of which, according to the White House’s statement on Wednesday, should be delivered as soon as possible.
After the heavy Russian missile strikes on Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Kyiv has only about 10% of what it needs for its air defenses, stressing that Kyiv’s number one priority in its defense cooperation with foreign partners is currently the air defense.
Meanwhile, amid fighting between Russian and advancing Ukrainian forces, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the Kherson region has appealed to residents to evacuate, at the same time publicly asking Moscow to help transporting civilians into Russia.
The partly occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that were formally annexed by Russia in September.
The deadly Russian strikes on civilian targets continued Thursday with the shelling of residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine, and the “kamikaze” drone attack on the Kyiv region, where authorities urged people to stay in shelters.