Ukraine receives 3.3 billion euros from EU for defence needs

Kyiv: Ukraine has received a new 3.3-billion-euro (about 3.78 billion US dollars) tranche from the European Union to finance priority defence needs, Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said Friday.

The funds will be used, in particular, to purchase missiles and drones, Koretskyi said on Telegram.

The tranche was disbursed under the Ukraine Support Loan mechanism, which envisages up to 45 billion euros in assistance to Ukraine in 2026, including funding for defence and budgetary support.

The EU finalised the 90-billion-euro support loan for Ukraine in April, aiming to provide budgetary and defence support to the country in 2026 and 2027, reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Friday it had summoned Britain’s charge d’affaires in Russia, Danae Dholakia, over London’s increased arms supplies to Ukraine.

On August 24, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office announced that the country had authorised defence company MBDA to release classified information on British components of the long-range SCALP missile. The information will help Kyiv assemble these weapons.

Britain’s “sharply confrontational line on the Ukrainian track is clearly subordinated to the task of dragging out and escalating the armed conflict by all means, and only pushes further away the prospect of its political settlement,” said the ministry in a statement.

According to the foreign ministry, Dholakia was informed that Russia reserved the right to take necessary retaliatory measures in accordance with its right to self-defence.

The foreign ministry also warned that any British military facilities on Ukrainian territory used to launch strikes against Russia would be regarded as legitimate targets.

Additionally, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday that Russian forces conducted two massive and five group strikes against Ukrainian defence plants, logistics hubs, energy and transport infrastructure and seized ten settlements in a week.

Among the hit targets were defence, metallurgical, motor and electronic enterprises, military logistics and distribution centres, fuel-power, railway and road infrastructure facilities, drone manufacturing workshops and storage facilities, ammunition and fuel depots, ports, as well as temporary deployment areas for Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries.

Regarding sea targets, the ministry added that 12 Ukrainian dry cargo ships, two sea ferries, one tanker and one tugboat were hit.

Over the week, Russian air defence systems shot down 44 guided aerial bombs, eight HIMARS rockets, two Neptune long-range guided missiles and 5,706 Ukrainian drones.

IANS