OMM Newsroom
The United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with new military, energy and nuclear safety support. The assistance package was announced after talks in London between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Burnham said £45 million ($59.4 million) would be allocated for surface-to-air missiles for Ukraine. Of that amount, £10 million ($13.2 million) will be delivered on an accelerated basis to meet urgent needs.
The United Kingdom is allocating £54 million ($71 million) for winter assistance. Of that sum, £20 million ($26.4 million) will go toward energy support.
The government has separately allocated £17 million ($22 million) to repair the protective shelter at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged last year in a Russian drone strike.
Russian strikes target Ukraine’s energy facilities
The new assistance was announced amid continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials, Russian strikes on energy facilities in Kyiv and Kharkiv left about 600,000 people without electricity.
A missile strike on Kyiv damaged a high-rise residential building, killing two people and injuring 21. One of the strikes also hit a thermal power plant.
In Lutsk, in western Ukraine, a warehouse and a residential building were hit. Regional officials said six people were killed in the attack.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out a large-scale strike on communications and energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
The attacks continued after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine. Trump said the sides had agreed to stop attacks on energy infrastructure and that the ceasefire had taken effect immediately. Moscow and Kyiv initially did not confirm that they had reached a mutual agreement.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to observe a ceasefire if Russia did the same. He accused Moscow of violating the agreement by continuing attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had stopped strikes on Russian energy facilities to respect Trump’s announcement.
Zelenskyy urges Washington to put pressure on Russia
The dispute over the ceasefire comes amid growing tensions between Kyiv and Washington. Trump has urged Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, saying the strikes have contributed to higher diesel prices in the United States.
Trump also said that “it is time for Ukraine to have a new president.” Zelenskyy rejected the suggestion that Washington should determine Ukraine’s leadership.
Zelenskyy urged the United States to put pressure on Russia and said Kyiv would halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The Financial Times, citing European and Ukrainian officials, reported that U.S. officials had contacted Kyiv and European capitals and threatened to halt intelligence sharing and the PURL mechanism used to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine if Kyiv continued its attacks on Russian oil refineries. Reuters could not independently verify the report, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukrainian officials have also reported disruptions to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications service, which is used for military purposes. They said restrictions on the system had affected some military operations, including drone activity.
Zelenskyy said Russia was seeking to take advantage of communications problems because Ukraine’s interceptor drones make extensive use of the connection. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk wrote on X that decisions about restrictions on Starlink’s speed or use were made by the U.S. military, while the final decision rested with the president.
The United Kingdom is urging its allies to maintain pressure on Moscow. British Finance Minister John Healey has called for tighter restrictions on shipping services used by Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
“My message to finance ministers here today, and on Ukraine, is this: keep up the path of tough economic sanctions against Russia,” Healey said.
Burnham also asked ministers to prepare further sanctions, military assistance and financial support for Ukraine. According to the British government, the United Kingdom’s total support for Ukraine has reached about £25 billion ($33 billion) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
