Britain promises Ukraine more Brimstone missiles, training

LONDON — Britain will supply another batch of multirole missiles and provide training for thousands of Ukrainian troops, the U.K. defense secretary announced this week.

Britain is shipping 200 MBDA-built Brimstone missiles to Ukraine, Grant Shapps said in a speech to Parliament to mark the upcoming second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Britain has already supplied large numbers of Brimstones to Ukraine. Shapps told lawmakers the “missiles have previously had significant impact on the battlefield, in one instance forcing Russian forces to abandon and retreat from an attempted crossing of a river.”

The supply, along with a recent pledge from the British government to spend £200 million (U.S. $253 million) this year supplying drones to Kyiv, comes at a critical time for Ukraine. The country is finding Western military aid far harder to come by.

Shapps said the time is now or never to equip Kyiv with the weapons it needs.

“This year will be make or break for Ukraine. So it’s time for the West — and all civilized nations — to step up and give Ukraine the backing it needs,” he told parliamentary members.

Aside from the delivery of more Brimstones, Shapps said Britain and its allies are to train 10,000 Ukrainian troops in the U.K. over the first half of this year to add to the 60,000 that have already undergone training.

Nearly a dozen nations, including Australia, Canada, Finland and Romania, have provided troops to train Ukrainian military personnel in the U.K.

Shapps said the list of nations involved in the training effort has now expanded to include Estonia and Kosovo.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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