The staggering extent of UK Government’s assistance to Ukraine: voters wrote the blank cheque in 2019

When UK Government feels that it has generated as much Tory-voter support for Keir Starmer as it can garner with its ongoing Conservative-Party-as-shambles campaign that began in earnest with the invented Cabinet drinking party nonsense, there will be a general election. The author expects one in early 2023‡.

As a reminder that the act of voting (or even submitting a spoiled ballot paper) is entering into a criminally lop-sided agreement with UK Government whereby it has been validated by consent to administer and legislate, but does not have to fulfil the contractual obligations upon which this right has been awarded, but on the contrary can spend the investment of millions of cases of individual sovereignty surrendered to it just as it pleases (or according to details hidden in vague promissory blandishment), below is a list of the ways that the UK Government provided assistance to Ukraine for the purpose of resisting the Russian Special Military Operation. Or, here is a list of how UK Government is at war with Russia by proxy.

If you voted in 2019 (for any party, or even spoiled a ballot paper), you gave the okay for the vast majority of it (some of the assistance was already in existence before February 2022 and related to long term anti-Russian plans†) – and certainly, as the dates show, for the part of it intended as being used in the current literal confrontation with Russia. The author hopes that you are satisfied with your work – especially as it all comes to nothing, with one indicator being how Russian Ministry of Defence briefings are increasingly telling of Ukrainian desperation for equipment as represented in the apparent necessity to use civilian cars as troop transports during attacking manoeuvres (more to come about that in a future article).

The following list is reproduced in its entirety from the pertinent section of a Wikipedia page dedicated to detailing all foreign aid to Ukraine, last updated on the date of this article’s publication. [Extraneous linkage will be deleted at the author’s leisure].

Military Aid

• Trained 22,000 Ukrainian troops since 2015 as part of Operation Orbital. This operation was suspended following the full-scale Russian invasion; a new British-led multinational operation commenced on 9 July 2022 as part of Operation Interflex.
• Sale of two Sandown-class minehunters.
• £1.7 billion sterling agreement to support the acquisition of eight missile craft and one frigate.
• Deployment of RC-135W Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft to provide information on size and position of Russian forces.
• ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) support, both standalone and in partnership with the United States.
• Delivered “thousands” of NLAW anti-armour weapons and Javelin anti-tank missiles. The total amount was stated to be over 6,500 as of 3 June 2022.
• Unspecified further military aid, on 28 February 2022.
• Unspecified number of Javelin anti-tank missiles, on 10 March 2022.
• The UK announced a further 6,000 defensive missiles will be sent to Ukraine, on 24 March 2022.
• Starstreak man-portable air-defense systems.
• UK announced the supply of an unspecified amount of “armoured vehicles and long-range artillery” to Ukraine, on 31 March 2022, on 9 April a figure of 120 armoured vehicles was given along with an unspecified number of anti-ship missiles. A 14 April interview gave the following partial breakdown:
  • 40 CVR(T) derived vehicles including the Stormer HVM SHORAD, FV104 Samaritan armoured ambulance, FV106 Samson armoured recovery vehicle & FV107 Scimitar Tracked Recon Vehicle.
  • 35 FV103 Spartan APCs.
  • 80 protected mobility vehicles including Mastiff protected patrol vehicles, Wolfhound heavy tactical support vehicles and Husky light tactical support vehicles.
• British Army donates 84,000 helmets to Ukraine.
• UK announced an additional £100 million in military aid, on 8 April. This includes further Starstreak missiles, 800 NLAW, Javelin anti-tank missiles and precision loitering munitions. Further military helmets, night vision equipment and body armour will be provided on top of 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment supplied so far.
• UK announced further unspecified amount of lethal military aid to Ukraine on 23 April. “The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK is providing more defensive military aid, including protected mobility vehicles, drones and anti-tank weapons.”
• The UK announced a further £300 million in military aid to Ukraine. Boris Johnson made this announcement in a videolink address to the Rada, on the 3 May.
  • Electronic warfare equipment.
  • Counter battery radar.
  • GPS Jammers.
  • ‘Thousands’ of Night Vision devices.
  • 13 bulletproof Babcock Toyota Land Cruiser for civilian officials such as mayors and evacuation operations.
  • Heavy lift cargo drones.
• The UK has been supplying an unspecified number of British made Brimstone missiles into Ukraine.
• The UK announced a further £1 billion in military support to Ukraine. The total sum was £1.3 billion (US$1.6 billion), however, this included the £300 million that was pledged on 3 May.
• 30 March, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provided £20 million to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for salaries through a deposit in the National Bank of Ukraine, followed by a further £5 million on 18 May.
• 6 June, the United Kingdom confirmed it would provide an unspecified number of M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System along with M31A1 ammunition and provide training to the Ukrainian operators in the UK.
• 16 June, confirmed 20 used M109 howitzer ad been bought from a Belgian arms dealer, refurbished and partially delivered to Ukraine.
• 17 June, the UK offered to set up and administer a program to provide three weeks general infantry, first aid, cyber security, and counter explosive tactics training to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers every four months hosted by a neighbouring country. This would better equip Ukraine to replace battlefield casualties.
• 27 June, From this week, 200 Ukrainian soldiers are set to arrive in the UK every day to receive training from the UK’s Armed Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff said.
• 28 June, during the NATO summit in Madrid the UK committed to providing Ukraine a further £1 billion of military support towards the acquisition of “sophisticated” air defence systems, electronic warfare equipment, drones and ammunition for long range rocket artillery.
• 29 June, The UK has facilitated the transfer of 3 Norwegian MLRS systems. The Norwegian systems will need upgrading, so the UK will receive and upgrade the Norwegian MLRS pieces, to backfill upgraded British pieces already being sent to Ukraine.
• 30 June, The UK revealed it had been training hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers on British Artillery Systems on Salisbury Plain (UK). The UK also stated it had purchased 50 L119 Howitzers from a British company and will be deploying these weapons to Ukraine imminently. The New Zealand Army has deployed personnel who are training Ukrainian soldiers on L119 artillery pieces in the UK (see NZ entry above).
• On the 21 July British Secretary of Defence, Ben Wallance, announced the UK will send “50,000 artillery shells, counter-battery radar systems and hundreds of drones” and “scores” of artillery guns over the coming weeks along with 1,600 anti-tank weapons.
  • 20 M109 155mm self-propelled guns;
  • 36 L119 105mm artillery guns; and
  • 50,000 of rounds for Ukraine’s Soviet era artillery.
• 11 August The UK confirmed it was delivering an additional three M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and M31A1 rockets, the previous day Ukraine had announced that the equipment had been received.
• 24 August UK announced a £54m package including 850 Black Hornet Nano drones, 200 surveillance drones and ~1000 anti-tank loitering munitions. (See also the Norwegian announcement the same day)
• 27 August the British MoD announced it would provide six mine hunting UUVs to Ukraine along with training Ukrainian naval personnel in their use.
• 13 October The UK announced further donations;
  • AMRAAM missiles to equip the NASAMS air defence systems supplied by the US.
  • “Hundreds” of additional air defence missiles, of other types previously provided.
  • “Hundreds” of additional aerial drones.
  • 18 howitzer artillery guns on top of the 64 already delivered.
  • £10m donation to the NATO fund for buying non-lethal military aid.

Financial Aid

• 23 February – pledged £3.5 billion in British export financing, underwrote $500 million in MLDB borrowing and provided a £100 million loan via the World Bank for economic development.
• 3 March – UK donated $100 million directly to the Ukrainian government budget to mitigate financial pressures created by Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion.
• 24 March – £25 million in financial backing for the Ukrainian military.
• 9 April – UK increased its World Bank loan guarantees to £730 million (US$1 billion).
• 25 April – UK announced it was cutting tariffs and quotas on all trade with Ukraine to zero.
• 4 July – During the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland the UK committed to fiscal grants through the World Bank of £99m and to underwriting £429m ($525m) in a third tranche of World Bank lending.
• 19 August the UK committed £1.5m for the testing of grain sold by Russia to identify if it had come from Ukraine, and a package of rail support for grain exports.

Humanitarian Aid

• £100 million of humanitarian aid announced on 23 February 2022.
• £40 million additional humanitarian aid announced on 27 February 2022.
• Additional £80 million in aid to help Ukraine deal with humanitarian crisis on 1 March 2022.
• £4 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine on 28 February 2022.
• £4 million combined package of financial and humanitarian aid, announced on 1 March 2022.
• UK announced “supplies of rations, medical equipment and other non-lethal military aid will also be increased” on 10 March 2022.
• On 14 March 2022, the British government announced plans to provide vital energy support to Ukraine through the Ukraine Electricity Network Support Taskforce. The UK donated more than 500 mobile generators.
• £2 million in vital food supplies for areas of Ukraine encircled by Russian forces.
• UK announced the donation of a “fleet of ambulances” to Ukraine, on 6 April 2022.
• UK announced the amount it had donated through multilateral donor conferences for humanitarian aid totaled £394m so far on 9 April.
• 25 April UK donating a further 22 ambulances on top of 20 ambulances and 40 fire engines already donated and giving £300k of medical training in treating mass casualty victims and £300k in medicines and supplies.
• On 3 May, UK announced it will provide 13 unspecified protected vehicles for the transport of civilians.
• On 4 May, UK announced it will provide 570 generators to Ukraine.
• On 6 May, the British government pledged £45 million to UN and humanitarian groups in and around Ukraine and additional medical supplies.
• As of 20 May, the British government has donated 11.07 million items of medicine and medical equipment to Ukraine.
• 27 June the British government pledged £10 million worth of equipment and materials for repairing the Ukrainian railway network.
• 4 July – The UK pledged to donate £10m for repairs to the Ukraine energy grid and for reconnecting homes and to guarantee £41m of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loans to Ukrenergo the Ukrainian national grid operator. The UK also committed an undisclosed sum to immediate life-saving assistance and demining operations through the £37m raised by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine multi-donor fund. The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine was launched by the UK in December 2021 with the aim to raise £35m from donors over the next three years for support in the conflict ravaged areas of Ukraine, it is supported by Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
• 15 July the British government provided a £2.5 million package for the training of judges and forensic experts and for sending teams to the scenes of alleged Russian war crimes to aid Ukrainian prosecutors.
• 19 August the UK pledged £15m of funding to support the basic needs of 200,000 refugees in Ukraine and Poland.
• 28 September £300,000 donated to the HALO Trust by the Scottish government.

† At any rate, it appears the big spending started under this current Tory executive.  For instance, the Ukrainian ship buying was part of a bigger scheme of naval enhancement – including investment in the port at Berdyansk now in Russian Zaporozhe – put into motion in 2020. Incidentally, payment to Babcock (the company employing “Plymouth incel shooter” Jake Davison) was guaranteed by the UK Export Finance (UKEF) – which means if the Ukrainian government can’t pay for it (and it won’t), then the British taxpayer foots the bill. This appears, then, to be £1.7 billion on top of the £3.5 billion export financing which was allocated for other things not directly military.

If the reader was wondering, yes, the intent for this scheme had been declared in the Tory manifesto in the usual way by which an executive-to-be asks for carte blanche: “And unlike Jeremy Corbyn, we will stand up to foreign countries that threaten the stability of Europe, or commit state sanctioned murder on British soil.”

‡ Update, 10/02/23: This has been updated. See About That “Swing To Labour” (link).