Ukraine to receive 30,000 drones from UK and NATO allies

The United Kingdom, together with NATO allies, will provide Ukraine with 30,000 new drones. The British Ministry of Defense announced this. 

British Defense Secretary John Healy announced the development alongside Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds at a Defense Contact Group meeting held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 9.

The British Defense Ministry said 30,000 drones will be sent to Ukraine after an international “drone coalition” led by the UK and Latvia awarded contracts worth £45 million (about $55.3 million).

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The fierce courage of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire the world, and this meeting of more than 50 nations sends a clear message to Putin about the international community’s unwavering support for Ukraine.”

“I am proud of the UK’s leadership in supporting Ukraine. From heading coalitions that are delivering essential equipment alongside allies to training recruits, we’re standing strong with Ukraine against Putin’s aggression. Our commitment to provide £3 billion a year of military aid for as long as it takes will ensure Ukraine can defend themselves and is essential to protect the security of the UK—because the defense of the UK starts in Ukraine,” John Healey added.

It is reported that funding for the new drones comes from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Sweden.

The meeting of allies and partners at Ramstein follows the defense secretary’s visit to Kyiv last month, where he met with his counterpart, Rustem Umerov, to discuss the priority areas for UK defense support and announced a new £225 million package of military support, including £186 million from the International Fund for Ukraine.

The British government is clear that the UK’s defense starts in Ukraine and that providing military support is essential to promote both the UK’s national security and stability in Europe.

As a reminder, in June, the UK and Latvia, on behalf of the “drone coalition,” announced a tender for the supply of FPV unmanned aerial vehicles to Ukraine for the amount of 352 thousand euros.

In July, the participating countries of the “drone coalition” signed a memorandum of understanding, within the framework of which they created a joint fund for 45 million euros.

In November, Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, announced that this year the countries of the “drone coalition” would allocate 1.8 billion euros to support the defense forces of Ukraine.

Already at the end of December, the UK’s defense secretary, Luke Pollard, stated that the countries of the “drone coalition” and the “maritime coalition” within the framework of the “Ramstein” format would begin to massively supply Ukraine with drones of various types from January, the scale of which is “tens of thousands” of devices.