British military aid has reached Ukraine, the local Ministry of Defense informed, presenting photos from the arrival of the equipment. The new equipment is to help Ukraine against a potential military invasion from its Eastern neighbour, Russia. 

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs a small team of British troops would also be sent to Ukraine to provide training. 

He added that there was „legitimate and a real cause for concern” the Russian troops could be used for an invasion. He also emphasised “Russia’s increasingly threatening behaviour„. In turn, the Kremlin denies any invasion plans and, as usual, accuses the West of threatening regional security. 

Dozens of British troops have been in Ukraine for the last six years to help train their armed forces, and the UK has also made a commitment to help rebuild Ukraine’s navy following Russia’s invasion of Crimea back in 2014. What’s more, it is important to underline that the war in the Eastern Ukrainian regions of Ukraine has been raging for eight years and made over a dozen thousand casualties. 

Great Britain and Ukraine have not revealed exactly what equipment went to this country, we only know that it is a „light anti-tank weapon„.

Interestingly, the British planes carrying the military support did not fly above Germany, taking instead a slightly longer route through the Danish airspace. This situation provoked some suspicions amid several countries of NATO’s Eastern flank that Berlin might not want to participate in the help to Ukraine in any way. 

“Explanation: the German Ministry of Defence did not receive a request from the United Kingdom regarding the C-17 flights to Ukraine. British C-17s were not denied the use of German airspace” – German Ambassador to Poland Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven wrote in a tweet. 

https://twitter.com/Amb_Niemiec/status/1483389700639531008?s=20

In turn, the Brits invoked meteorological reasons for having chosen the “Danish route” instead of the German one. 

Cover photo: Unsplash

Author: Sebastien Meuwissen