The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced that the UK will send tanks and self-propelled guns (SPGs) to aid the Ukrainian offensive, according to a press release published on the British Government’s website on 14 January. The report says that the PM is “set to accelerate the UK’s diplomatic and military support to Ukraine in the weeks ahead in a bid to push Russia further back and secure a lasting peace.”
“Sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is the start of a gear change in the UK’s support. A squadron of 14 tanks will go into the country in the coming weeks after the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that the UK would provide additional support to aid Ukraine’s land war. Around 30 AS90s, which are large, self-propelled guns, operated by five gunners, are expected to follow. The Defence Secretary will set out further details of this support in the House of Commons on Monday [January 16],” the report reads.
As the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches in late February, UK PM Sunak has stressed the need for an international strategy to “break the stalemate” as UK defense and security officials “believe a window has opened up where Russia is on the backfoot due to resupply issues and plummeting morale.”
The UK is going to start the training of the Ukrainian troops to operate the Challenger tanks and the AS90 guns “in the coming days.”
Mirror reported that the UK sends “Apache helicopters armed with deadly Hellfire missiles to Ukraine” in a move hailed as a ‘game-changer’ in Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion. The British Ministry of Defense, however, later denied media reports that it allegedly plans to supply the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to Ukraine.
Read also:
Britain plans to send tanks to Ukraine, British PM’s spox confirms
Already five countries ready to send Ukraine Leopard 2 tanks, waiting for Germany’s permission
The UK is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time — Sky News
