Britain is to ship helicopters to Ukraine for the primary time since Russia’s invasion, the defence ministry in London stated on Wednesday.

Ten crews of Ukrainian service personnel and engineers underwent a six-week coaching programme within the UK, as a part of the “first helicopter functionality the UK has donated to Ukraine”, the ministry stated.

Along with the three former British army Sea King helicopters, the primary of which has already arrived, the UK may also provide an extra 10,000 artillery rounds.

“Our help for Ukraine is unwavering. These extra artillery rounds will assist Ukraine to safe the land it has reclaimed from Russia in current weeks,” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used a weekend go to to the Ukrainian capital to set out a brand new £50 million ($59 million) package deal of defence help which included 125 anti-aircraft weapons and gear to counter Iranian-supplied drones.

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Britain can be supplying cold-weather winter equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Ukrainian troops face plummeting temperatures as they battle by way of the winter to eject Russian forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.

The announcement got here as Wallace visited Norway for a gathering of the Northern Group of defence ministers onboard the UK’s plane provider HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The 12-strong Northern Group is a UK initiative aimed toward selling defence and safety cooperation in northern Europe.

Different members are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

Former premier Boris Johnson was a staunch ally of Ukraine, visiting Kyiv thrice and funnelling army hardware, funding and coaching assets to the nation.