Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the UK had provided Ukraine with 184,000 more artillery shells than it had planned a year ago. According to him, the UK has “provided significant amounts of military equipment, ammunition and non-lethal assistance” as the Ukrainian military defends its territory and seeks to drive Russian occupiers out of Ukraine.
Ben Wallace said that the volume of “critical” artillery shells sent to Ukraine has increased 15 times. In 2022, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Britain planned to send 16,000 shells.
Ukraine regularly asks its Western partners to provide more shells, as Russia has a larger arsenal of artillery. Giving a list of what the UK had provided to Ukraine before 11 July, Mr Wallace said that London had already spent £2.3 billion to support the Ukrainian military from April 2022 to March 23.
According to him, this puts the UK in second place after the US among international donors of military aid to Ukraine. Mr Wallace said: “The delivery and provision of aid is dynamic and fast, responding to the immediate needs of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
“While in a small number of areas (such as ammunition to destroy fortified structures such as bunkers or small arms) we have provided less assistance than expected, in critical areas such as artillery, we have exceeded plans and responded quickly to Ukraine’s priorities and developments on the battlefield.”
He said that 4,000 rounds of ammunition were sent to arm the 14 Challenger II tanks that Britain sent to Ukraine earlier this year. At least 5 million pieces of anti-personnel weapons, including mortars and grenade launchers, as well as 1,500 anti-aircraft weapons and 100 anti-aircraft launchers were also transferred.
In addition, the UK donated 12,000 bulletproof vests and 80,000 helmets. In total, £4 million was spent on spare parts, tools and auxiliary kits for the military. In addition, 70,000 food rations and 65,000 pieces of clothing were sent to Ukrainian soldiers.
Ben Wallace noted that the items were obtained from UK defence stockpiles, defence industry procurement in the UK and abroad. They were also allocated from surplus items purchased from foreign governments. Some items were obtained through coordinated international procurement through the International Fund for Ukraine, which is administered by the UK.
This week, the UK Defence Secretary confirmed that he plans to resign during the next cabinet reshuffle, expected in September, and added that he would not “comment on the number of British personnel in Ukraine or where they are deployed”.
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