This article details aid given to Ukraine by Britain before and during the invasion of the country by Russian forces.
Many already know that Britain has sent tens of thousands of anti-tank munitions and thousands of missiles but that’s just the top of the iceberg.
The table is constantly being updated, and if something isn’t here, it’ll be added soon.
I’m currently helping to produce the table below for this Wikipedia page as part of efforts to have information collated in one place, the table is being shared here under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.
Military Aid
- Trained 22,000 Ukrainian troops since 2015 as part of Operation Orbital. This operation was suspended following the full-scale Russian invasion; a new British-led multinational operation commenced on 9 July 2022 as part of Operation Interflex.
- Sale of two Sandown-class minehunters.
- £1.7 billion sterling agreement to support the acquisition of eight missile craft and one frigate.
- Deployment of RC-135W Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft to provide information on size and position of Russian forces.
- ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) support, both standalone and in partnership with the United States.
- Delivered “thousands” of NLAW anti-armour weapons and Javelin anti-tank missiles.[456] The total amount was stated to be over 6,500 as of 3 June 2022.
- £25 million in financial backing for the Ukrainian military.
- Unspecified further military aid, on 28 February 2022.
- Unspecified number of Javelin anti-tank missiles, on 10 March 2022.
- The UK announced a further 6,000 defensive missiles will be sent to Ukraine, on 24 March 2022.
- Starstreak man-portable air-defense systems.
- UK announced the supply of an unspecified amount of “armoured vehicles and long-range artillery” to Ukraine, on 31 March 2022, on 9 April a figure of 120 armoured vehicles was given along with an unspecified number of anti-ship missiles. A 14 April interview gave the following partial breakdown:
- 40 CVR(T) derived vehicles including the Stormer HVM SHORAD, FV104 Samaritan armoured ambulance, FV106 Samson armoured recovery vehicle & FV107 Scimitar Tracked Recon Vehicle.
- 35 FV103 Spartan APCs.
- 80 protected mobility vehicles including Mastiff protected patrol vehicles, Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles and Husky light tactical support vehicles.
- British Army donates 84,000 helmets to Ukraine.
- UK announced an additional £100 million in military aid, on 8 April. This includes further Starstreak missiles, 800 NLAW, Javelin anti-tank missiles and precision loitering munitions. Further military helmets, nightvision equipment and body armour will be provided on top of 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment supplied so far.
- UK announced further unspecified amount of lethal military aid to Ukraine on 23 April. “The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK is providing more defensive military aid, including protected mobility vehicles, drones and anti-tank weapons.” The UK announced a further £300 million in military aid to Ukraine. Boris Johnson made this announcement in a videolink address to the Rada, on the 3 May.
- Electronic warfare equipment.
- Counter battery radar.
- GPS Jammers.
- ‘Thousands’ of Night Vision devices.
- 13 bulletproof Babcock Toyota Landcruiser for civilian officials such as mayors and evacuation operations.
- Heavy lift cargo drones.
- The UK has been supplying an unspecified number of British made Brimstone missiles into Ukraine.
- The UK announced a further £1 billion in military support to Ukraine. The total sum was £1.3 billion (US$1.6 billion), however, this included the £300 million that was pledged on 3 May.
- 30 March, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provided £20 million to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for salaries through a deposit in the National Bank of Ukraine, followed by a further £5 million on 18 May
- 6 June, the United Kingdom confirmed it would provide an unspecified number of M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System along with M31A1 ammunition and provide training to the Ukrainian operators in the UK.
- 16 June, confirmed 20 used M109 howitzer ad been bought from a Belgian arms dealer, refurbished and partially delivered to Ukraine.
- 17 June, the UK offered to set up and administer a program to provide three weeks general infantry, first aid, cyber security, and counter explosive tactics training to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers every four months hosted by a neighbouring country. This would better equip Ukraine to replace battlefield casualties.
- 27 June, From this week, 200 Ukrainian soldiers are set to arrive in the UK every day to receive training from the UK’s Armed Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff said.
- 28 June, during the NATO summit in Madrid the UK committed to providing Ukraine a further £1 billion of military support towards the acquisition of “sophisticated” Air Defence Systems, Electronic Warfare Equipment, Drones and Ammunition for Long Range Rocket Artillery.
- 29 June, The UK has facilitated the transfer of 3 Norwegian MLRS systems. The Norwegian systems will need upgrading, so the UK will receive and upgrade the Norwegian MLRS pieces, to backfill upgraded British pieces already being sent to Ukraine.
- 30 June, The UK revealed it had been training hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers on British Artillery Systems on Salisbury Plain (UK). The UK also stated it had purchased 50 L119 Howitzers from a British company and will be deploying these weapons to Ukraine imminently.[483] The New Zealand Army has deployed personnel who are training Ukrainian soldiers on L119 artillery pieces in the UK (see NZ entry above).
- On the 21 July British Secretary of Defence, Ben Wallance, announced the UK will send “50,000 artillery shells, counter-battery radar systems and hundreds of drones” and “scores” of artillery guns over the coming weeks along with 1,600 anti-tank weapons.
- 11 August The UK confirmed it was delivering an additional three M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and M31A1 rockets, the previous day Ukraine had announced that the equipment had been received.
- 24 August UK announced a £54m package including 850 Black Hornet Nano drones, 200 surveillance drones and ~1000 anti-tank loitering munitions.
- 27 August the British MoD announced it would provide six mine hunting UUVs to Ukraine along with training Ukrainian naval personnel in their use.
Financial Aid
- 23 February – pledged £3.5 billion in British export financing, underwrote $500 million in MLDB borrowing and provided a £100 million loan via the World Bank for economic development.
- 23 March – UK donated $100 million directly to the Ukrainian government budget to mitigate financial pressures created by Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion.
- 9 April – UK increased its World Bank loan guarantees to £730 million (US$1 billion).
- 25 April – UK announced it was cutting tariffs and quotas on all trade with Ukraine to zero.
- 4 July – During the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland the UK committed to fiscal grants through the World Bank of £99m and to underwriting £429m ($525m) in a third tranche of World Bank lending.
- 19 August the UK committed £1.5m for the testing of grain sold by Russia to identify if it had come from Ukraine, and a package of rail support for grain exports.
Humanitarian Aid
- £100 million of humanitarian aid announced on 23 February 2022.
- £40 million additional humanitarian aid announced on 27 February 2022.
- Additional £80 million in aid to help Ukraine deal with humanitarian crisis on 1 March 2022.
- £4 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine on 28 February 2022.
- £4 million combined package of financial and humanitarian aid, announced on 1 March 2022.
- UK announced “supplies of rations, medical equipment and other non-lethal military aid will also be increased” on 10 March 2022.
- On 14 March 2022, the British government announced plans to provide vital energy support to Ukraine through the Ukraine Electricity Network Support Taskforce. The UK donated more than 500 mobile generators.
- £2 million in vital food supplies for areas of Ukraine encircled by Russian forces.
- UK announced the donation of a “fleet of ambulances” to Ukraine, on 6 April 2022.
- UK announced the amount it had donated through multilateral donor conferences for humanitarian aid totaled £394m so far on 9 April.
- 25 April UK donating a further 22 ambulances on top of 20 ambulances and 40 fire engines already donated and giving £300k of medical training in treating mass casualty victims and £300k in medicines and supplies.
- On 3 May, UK announced it will provide 13 unspecified protected vehicles for the transport of civilians.
- On 4 May, UK announced it will provide 570 generators to Ukraine.
- On 6 May, the British government pledged £45 million to UN and humanitarian groups in and around Ukraine and additional medical supplies.
- As of 20 May, the British government has donated 11.07 million items of medicine and medical equipment to Ukraine.
- 27 June the British government pledged £10 million worth of equipment and materials for repairing the Ukrainian railway network.
- 4 July – The UK pledged to donate £10m for repairs to the Ukraine energy grid and for reconnecting homes and to guarantee £41m of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loans to Ukrenergo the Ukrainian national grid operator. The UK also committed an undisclosed sum to immediate life-saving assistance and de-mining operations through the £37m raised by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine multi-donor fund. The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine was launched by the UK in December 2021 with the aim to raise £35m from donors over the next three years for support in the conflict ravaged areas of Ukraine, it is supported by Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
- 15 July the British government provided a £2.5 million package for the training of judges and forensic experts and for sending teams to the scenes of alleged Russian war crimes to aid Ukrainian prosecutors.
- 19 August the UK pledged £15m of funding to support the basic needs of 200,000 refugees in Ukraine and Poland.
- 28 September £300,000 donated to the HALO Trust by the Scottish government.
In all these comparisons of who has given what to Ukraine I think it’s important to remember that while we and most of the rest of NATO have given both freely and for free of weapons systems and other aid, the Americans will be making money hand over fist for many years. Just as we were paying under lend lease till the naughties so shall the grandchildren of the soldiers fighting to liberate their country from mad Vlad. Don’t trust the military industrial complex……
I agree. Although the head in the sand brigade on here are oblivious to a well known fact. Proxy wars benefit the complex and no one else. Sad that they cannot think laterally and analyse.
I agree. I sometimes think the MoD budget is primarily to support the MIC, the services come second.
Do tell how the “Americans will be making money hand over fist”? I believe these weapons are being gifted to Ukraine, rather than via a lend-lease type scheme.
Or is this just a xenophobic anti-American rant?
They’re being sent via lend lease. A bit of research wouldn’t hurt before being derogatory to someone. It’s not xenophobic to criticise the MIC as Daniele has said they’re everywhere.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_Democracy_Defense_Lend-Lease_Act_of_2022#:~:text=It%20is%20applicable%20to%20fiscal,deciding%20factor%20in%20the%20war.
And some Googling on your part would’ve revealed this only covers part of the aid that the US is providing to the Ukraine.
Like ‘big pharma’ the MIC is a term that has been misappropriated by conspiracy theorists. Simple fact is that every business seeks to influence people to improve its bottom line, which is why marketing, PR, and lobbying are such large sectors in their own right.
Personally I have no problem with lend-lease, without it we might now be speaking German.
😅
You might actually read what the act actually states before making idiotic anti-American comments. The act merely reduced the red tape allowing the President to expedite the transfer of US military equipment to Ukraine and was much needed in the early days. A loan is not a lease and no payment is involved. The US has not leased any military equipment to Ukraine. A more appropriate reference would be to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative in which the US has provided and paid for out of US funds $19 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. But then that wouldn’t fit… Read more »
By embargoing Russian oil (which America doesn’t, and didn’t, by anyway) The Americans have ensured that they make far more money out of Selling their own energy at inflated prices than by anything involving arms deals
It is not xenophobic to point out the very thing a US president pointed out as far back as 1951. There is ALWAYS a catch with the Americans. That is maybe why they are hated in so many parts of the world. Think what you want. That “gifted” equipment will need replacement. And our taxes will pay for said replacements.
Just because equipment needs replacement doesn’t mean you have to buy from the country it originally came from 😂
I’m pretty sure many nations would say about the Brits, that’s there’s always a catch. And they’d be equally wrong.
Just because a US President says something, even assuming it’s in context, it doesn’t prove that it’s true… Nixon, Bush, Trump demonstrated that 🤷🏻♂️
Biggoted much? Build your own kit and defend yourself.
I would quite happily. The US has dragged us into too much crap. Then dropping expensive munitions on brown people is such fun eh?
I think we have done quite well given the scale of things, I am however sick of hearing people in the street moaning about us spending on Ukraine, but yet don,t say a single word against our daily invasion of the boats down south, if we did not help Ukraine where would Russia stop………
That is some level of research. Most effective spending imaginable. We are watching the Russian military being systematically and methodically dismantled before our very eyes. In the worst case scenario I think it will take the Russian armed forces 20 years to recover. In the best case. Which I increasingly believe. It will never recover. But we should never forget the Ukranians are responsible for this. The west is providing the means but they are providing the blood and we should be under no illusion that it is a high price they are paying.
Agreed, while the west is paying in weapons and aid, the Ukrainians are paying in blood and lives. While it’s laudable that the west has backed them up, we owe they a huge debt for effectively demilitarising a totalitarian Russia.
I hope a Ukranian Marshall plan is on the table when this is all over.
It’ll certainly be needed, though if Ukraine joins the EU then the burden for most of it will fall there in the same way huge amounts of EU funds were sent to Eastern European states after they joined. (The annual amount given to Poland to rebuild was in the same ballpark as what the U.K. paid in every year.)
Hopefully but remember the screaming matches in the EU when it came to filling the budget gap when we left. Everyone agrees to something when they don’t expect to pay for it.
Oh I’m sure it’ll be a huge shock when countries like Ireland start having to give more many to the EU than they actually receive – that might have happened when we left. But a lot of other countries will go from net recipients to net donors 😂
It’s even better. We’ll be watching it all from the sidelines. 😂
Oh we’ve dodged a bullet there certainly! 😏
That is if Russia even exists in 20 years. Without a strong central government, there’s very little holding the hugely diverse republics of Russia together
You could well be right.
With a dissolution of Russia into smaller republics, the chances of its nuclear arsenal being maintained or updated becomes minimal. It might be possible to remove that threat once and for all.
There is a youtube video of a Ukrainian sniper using an Accuracy International .338 rifle.