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While President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for Nato fighter patrols over Ukraine has gone unheeded, the West has not been reticent in providing crucial arms to keep Russia at bay.
Initially, it was just Britain and America, which supplied Kyiv with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. But now at least 18 countries are pouring in weapons.
The missiles have already blunted Russian attacks around the country, but hundreds have already been fired, requiring urgent need for more supplies.
It also appears that the weapons being provided are increasing in lethality. They include Britain’s Starstreak missile along with America’s Switchblade “kamikaze” drones.
The quality of the weapons is such that some military analysts fear their secrets could become known to the Russians – and potentially the Chinese – if the arms are captured intact.
But the stakes are so high that Nato appears willing to supply what it can to help Ukraine defeat the invasion.
What weapons have been sent to Ukraine since the start of the Russian war?
Here are the weapons that have been sent to the country and its neighbours since the start of the year, most of which have been pledged since the invasion began.
- Bayraktar TB2 drones
- Switchblade drones
- NLA's anti-tank weapon
- AT4 Portable anti-tank weapon
- M-72 light anti-tank weapon
- Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle
- Panzerfaust 3 light anti-tank weapon
- FGM-48 Javelin anti-tank missile
- Starstreak anti-aircraft missile
- FIM-92 Stinger air defence system
- MIM-104 Patriot missile battery
- Sky Sabre missile system
- S-300 missile defence systems
- Patrol boats
- Mi-17 helicopters
- Field artillery
But Ukraine will be told to shop for its own weapons with €1 billion ($1.1bn) provided by its European neighbours, Germany said on Monday, amid mixed signals over its direct arms shipments to Ukraine.
The EU’s 27 members were poised to approve of the subsidy, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. She said Ukraine needed more equipment to fight Russian forces, which she described as committing war crimes.
The money would be put in place so that “Ukraine can buy its own weapons or that countries who continue to deliver weapons are supported,” Ms Baerbock said as she arrived for the meeting in Brussels.
For weeks, a Ukrainian government official, Oleksii Reznikov, has tweeted photos of the weapons as they arrive in the country.
“Two more birds in Kyiv,” has been his common phrase on seeing cargo planes land packed with ammunition or arms.
