United Kingdom plans to supply Ukrainian army with non-lethal military equipment

Defence & Security News - United Kingdom
 
United Kingdom plans to supply Ukrainian army with non-lethal military equipment.
United Kingdom said on Friday, March 6, 2015, it planned to supply Ukraine's army with a package of non-lethal military equipment to help it defend itself against what Defense Secretary Michael Fallon called "Russia's aggression."
     

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the UK is sending more non-lethal military equipment aid to Ukraine
     

The package is being provided alongside other short term training activities, which were announced by the Prime Minister last week. These will be delivered by UK military personnel to the Ukrainians in-country.

This support is in addition to ongoing Defence engagement activities with Ukraine. They include support on crisis management, anti-corruption, Defence reform and strategic communications. The MOD will also be delivering procurement training in the coming weeks. Over the last year the UK has provided personal protective equipment, winter fuel, medical kits, winter clothing and sleeping bags to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This prior support totals more than £1.2 million (€1.2 million) and is separate to today’s announcement.

UK policy since the start of the crisis has been to provide non-lethal assistance to Ukrainian armed forces, in line with HMG’s assessment that there must be a political solution to this crisis. The MOD will continue to focus on support and assistance that will reduce fatalities and casualties amongst members of the Ukrainian armed forces, whilst building their capacity and resilience.

The MOD is also working closely with key allies through the US / Canada / Ukraine Joint Commission for Cooperation and Defence Reform.

Five high-priority items will be gifted that will provide immediate benefit and help save lives.

The items to be gifted are:

2,000 Mark 6 helmets
150 helmet-mounted monocular night vision goggles (MNVGs)
200 global positioning units (GPS)
220 hardened laptops
1,000 first aid kits