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Live: UK to send Ukraine hundreds of new missile systems to boost air defence
The UK will send Ukraine 650 new specialist missile systems to boost its air defences, London said Friday, weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the pace of weapons deliveries from its ally. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
Issued on: 06/09/2024 – 01:27
1 min
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey arrives to attend a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on September 3, 2024.
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey arrives to attend a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on September 3, 2024. © Henry Nicholls, AFP
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FRANCE 24
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Summary:
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia’s “primary objective” remains to capture Ukraine’s Donbas region, adding that Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region had failed to slow down the Russian advance.
The UK said it would provide Ukraine with 650 missile systems worth 162 million pounds ($213.13 million) to help protect the country from Russian drones and bombing.
LIVE
an hour ago
Ukraine says it downed 27 out of 44 Russia-launched drones overnight
The Ukrainian air force said on Friday it shot down 27 out of 44 Russia-launched drones overnight.
Russia also launched missiles in the attack, the air force added in the statement on Telegram.
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an hour ago
Zelensky to have ‘one-on-one’ talks with Scholz, meet with Ukraine allies in Germany
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday visits Germany where Ukraine’s military backers are meeting, days after one of the deadliest strikes of the war and as Russian forces make battlefield gains.
Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold “one-on-one” talks in Frankfurt, according to a German government spokesman, who did not give further details about the Ukrainian leader’s programme.
But German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that Zelensky will also attend the gathering of Kyiv’s backers, which includes the United States, at the US Ramstein Air Base. The meeting at the base southwest of Frankfurt is being hosted by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.
Zelensky’s presence is intended to underline “the seriousness of the situation” on the ground in Ukraine, Spiegel said, days after at least 55 people were killed and more than 325 wounded in a Russian missile strike on the city of Poltava.
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3 hours ago
Ukraine gets a new chief diplomat as the war with Russia enters a new critical phase
Ukraine’s parliament approved the appointment of a new foreign minister Thursday, two lawmakers said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to breathe fresh life into his administration with the war against Russia poised for what could be a pivotal phase.
Andriy Sybiha, a former ambassador to Turkey, is the country’s new chief diplomat. He replaced Dmytro Kuleba, who became one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage as he petitioned and pleaded with Western countries to support Ukraine’s war effort.
Sybiha, 49, has been working as Kuleba’s deputy since April.
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8 hours ago
UK to supply Ukraine with hundreds of new missile systems for air defence
The UK will send Ukraine 650 new specialist missile systems to boost its air defences, London said Friday, weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the pace of weapons deliveries from its ally.
The first batch of the “Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM)” systems – made by French defence group Thales – were set to be dispatched by the end of the year, the government said, as it bids to “speed up deliveries of aid”.
The 162-million pound ($213 million) package will be formally announced by Defence Secretary John Healey at a meeting Friday of Ukraine’s Western allies in Germany.
“This new commitment will give an important boost to Ukraine’s air defences and demonstrates our new government’s commitment to stepping up support for Ukraine,” he said in a statement.
Zelensky praised the supply of lethal UK aid in a post on X last month, noting it had saved thousands of lives, but added that “unfortunately, the situation has slowed down recently”. London promptly insisted its support remained “absolutely resolute”.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
Ukraine’s parliament accepted Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s resignation, which he tendered earlier this week along with a number of other ministers ahead of a government reshuffle.
The parliament approved the nomination of Andriy Sybiha as foreign minister, part of the biggest reshuffle since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 68 out of 78 Russia-launched drones in an overnight attack.
The death toll in the Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Poltava on Tuesday rose to 54. Almost 300 people were wounded in the attack, which accounts for one of the single deadliest since the war began.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
