British defence minister says money will be spent on vehicle upgrades, communication systems and counter-drone protection, ensuring troops are ready to deploy. What we know on day 1,417
Britain said it was allocating £200m (US$270m) to fund preparations for the possible deployment of troops to Ukraine, after pledging its soldiers this week to a multinational force for the country in the event of a ceasefire. Visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, British defence minister John Healey said the money would be spent on upgrading vehicles and communication systems and counter-drone protection, as well as ensuring troops are ready to deploy. The announcement follows Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday agreeing to a declaration of intent at a summit of the “coalition of the willing” of Ukraine’s allies, outlining a potential future deployment. Healey said the funding announcement showed the government was “surging investment” into preparations for Ukraine.
Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack, officials said Friday. For only the second time in the nearly 4-year-old war, it used a new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv’s Nato allies. The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile came days after Ukraine and its allies reported major progress toward agreeing on how to defend the country from further Moscow aggression if a US-led peace deal is struck. Russia fired a total of 242 drones and 36 missiles, including the Oreshnik, to hit infrastructure in the western Lviv region and in and around Kyiv, Ukraine said.
