UK is using its Emergency Fund to provide financial support in Ukraine’s efforts to resist Russian forces
Ahead of the scheduled video call of Group of Seven (G7) leaders with the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelensky today, i.e., Sunday, May 8, 2022, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom (U.K.) – Boris Johnson has announced a further £1.3 billion (U.S. $ 1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine.
Johnson has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine’s efforts to resist Russian forces. Britain said the extra spending on Ukraine will come from a reserve used by the Government for emergencies.
Earlier this week, Johnson promised £ 300 million (U.S. $ 370 million) of military support to Ukraine, including electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices. The Treasury said this would be funded from the £1.3 billion increase.
A media statement from Johnson read, “[Vladimir] Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.”
The new pledge almost doubles the U.K.’s previous spending commitments on the war in Ukraine. Johnson and the Secretary of State for Defence of U.K. – Ben Wallace will meet the defence companies to discuss ramping up production in response to increased demand of weapons from Ukraine.
Besides, the U.K. has accepted more than 5 million Ukrainians who fled the country. It has issued more than 86,000 visas to Ukrainians, of which, 27,000 have reached Britain.
In other developments, 60 people are feared dead in an airstrike that struck a school in Luhansk on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 4:37 p.m. local time. The Governor of the Luhansk – Serhiy Haidai, has confirmed 2 casualties. As of now, 30 civilians had been pulled from the debris. About 90 people had been sheltering in the school in the village of Bilohorivka.
The Russia’s 10-week-old war on Ukraine has killed thousands, destroyed cities, and driven five million Ukrainians to flee the country. The besieged port city of Mariupol, a strategic target for Russian forces, has been virtually annihilated with the last 300 civilians trapped in the bombed-out Azovstal Steelworks evacuated on Saturday.
Ukrainian fighters in the factory have vowed not to surrender to Russian troops. The Soviet-era Azovstal steel mill, the last holdout for Ukrainian forces in the port city, has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine.
There are reports of new fighting in Eastern Ukraine on Sunday morning where Russian troops shelled Donetsk city and the town of Holmivskyi.
