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The UK will send long-range Brimstone missiles to Ukraine as part of its effort to help Kyiv defend itself against Russian forces.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Britain would provide Ukraine with the 1.8 metre, 50 kilogram air-launched missiles “in the next few weeks”.
The UK said it wants the war in Ukraine to lead to changes in global security arrangements.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed fears there could be nuclear reprisals from Russia if its army becomes bogged down in Ukraine, while the Nato military alliance said it hoped Ukrainian heavy artillery will frustrate Russian attacks.
Brimstone missiles have been used by British air power in Libya and Syria. They have a longer range than some of the systems friendly nations have supplied to Ukraine since the Russian invasion at the end of February.
Manufacturer MBDA said they can be used against fast-moving land and sea targets. In Ukraine, the missiles would be fired from land against targets at sea.
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Workers unloading a Royal Canadian Air Force military transport plane to assist Ukraine at Lviv airport. AFP -
A new member of the Territorial Defence Forces trains to operate an AT4 anti-tank launcher in Kyiv. Reuters -
A plane loaded with military equipment for Ukrainian forces takes off from Albacete, Spain. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier holds a Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon used to destroy a Russian armoured personal carrier in Irpin, north of Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman with a Javelin missile system on the front line near Kyiv. Reuters -
A soldier holds a Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank rocket launcher at the Munster military training area in Germany in 2016. Getty Images -
A US Marine Corps staff sergeant aims a M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon. Photo: US National Archives -
The Switchblade is a camera-equipped, remote-controlled flying bomb with a reputation for pinpoint delivery. AP Photo -
A coalition forces member fires a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle system during weapons practice on a range in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in 2013. US Army Photo -
A Starstreak surface-to-air missile system. PA
“Recently Ukraine has been asking for longer-range ground attack missiles, and the government has been exploring if stocks of Brimstone could be released for such purposes,” Mr Heappey said.
“This remains very much in line with our principle of evolving our support to Ukraine as the conflict evolves and their capability requirements change.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons that Brimstone missiles were on Ukraine’s shopping list before the war began.
“On Brimstone missiles, we made a commitment I think nearly 18 months ago, two years ago, when we were selling fast attack patrol boats to Ukraine, that we would sell [them] armed with maritime Brimstone missiles.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP -
Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA -
A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA -
A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA -
Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters -
A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP -
An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP -
Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters -
Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA -
Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP -
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP -
People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters -
Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA -
A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters -
A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA -
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA -
Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA -
A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA -
An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP -
Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP -
A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP -
Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP -
Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP -
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images -
Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA -
Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP -
A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images -
Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP -
A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP
“We would do that. They are not at present in the country. Those ships have not been yet purchased or delivered.
“However, if we wish to provide Brimstones in whatever guises they are, I will inform members of this House when we do it. I don't close it off as an opportunity. I think it's a perfectly legitimate thing.”
“First and foremost, we will look to provide if we do, Brimstone for the land, using stock we already hold but not as yet on the sea,” Mr Wallace said.
