The UK is to boost Ukraine’s fightback against Russian invaders in the eastern Donbas region by supplying highly accurate long-range rocket launchers, defence secretary Ben Wallace has announced.
Mr Wallace’s decision to supply the cutting-edge M270 multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) was co-ordinated with US president Joe Biden’s gift to Ukraine last week of the similar High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
The M270 can strike targets up to 80km away with pinpoint accuracy, said the Ministry of Defence.
Today’s announcement follows an appeal from Kyiv for longer-range precision weapons to defend Ukrainian forces against the heavy artillery deployed by Russia to devastating effect in the Donbas.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said last month that MLRS weapons were the key to helping Ukraine respond to the “very brutal” artillery assault which has allowed Russia to gain ground in the east of the country over recent weeks.
The Ministry of Defence refused to reveal how many M270s would be sent to Ukraine, citing the need to avoid giving Moscow information which might be useful to president Vladimir Putin’s troops.
The UK will also be providing M31A1 rockets “at scale”, said a spokesperson.
Ukrainian troops will come to the UK for training to use the rocket launcher, which is understood to take several weeks.
Mr Wallace said: “The UK stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in supplying its heroic troops with the vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion. If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win.
“As Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine. These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities.”
The UK was the first European country to supply lethal aid to Ukraine, and has since provided thousands of anti-tank missiles, anti-air systems and armoured vehicles to Ukrainian forces.
Mr Putin insisted that the provision of MLRS weapons to Ukraine would not change the course of the war, but may provoke Russia to attack new targets.
“We understand that this supply from the United States and some other countries is meant to make up for the losses of this military equipment,” he told state TV channel Rossiya-1.
“This is nothing new. It doesn’t change anything in essence.”
If the weapons systems are deployed, he said, “we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting.”
His comments followed reports of multiple explosions hitting “infrastructure” targets in Kyiv early on Sunday, in the first assault on the Ukrainian capital in several weeks.
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