UK announces first shipment to Ukraine of multiple rocket launcher system ahead of war with Russia

MADRID, 6 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government of the United Kingdom announced this Monday that it will proceed to the first shipment to Ukraine of a multiple rocket launcher system with a range of 80 kilometers, well above the artillery that kyiv possesses, in the framework of the war unleashed on February 24 with Russia due to the invasion order given by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The British Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, has detailed in statements to the British television network BBC that London will send the M270 system, without confirming a number, about a week after the United States also announced the shipment of this type of weapon. to Kyiv.

Thus, he stated that the Ukrainian military will receive training in the coming weeks in the United Kingdom to learn how to use these systems, while stressing that London is trying to deliver "the vital weapons that (Ukraine) needs to defend the country from an invasion unprovoked."

"Given the change in Russia's tactics, our support for Ukraine must also change," Wallace argued, stressing that these multiple rocket launcher systems "will allow Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery , which Putin's forces have used indiscriminately to raze cities".

The UK announcement comes a day after Putin accused Western countries of prolonging the war in Ukraine with their constant arms shipments to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion, before warning that his country could begin to attack new targets if it discovers that long-range missiles are coming into the hands of Ukrainian forces.

"All this fuss about additional arms deliveries has, in my opinion, only one goal: to prolong the armed conflict for as long as possible," the Russian president said, making specific reference to the shipment of MLRS multiple rocket launcher systems being prepared by the United States. United, able to reach Russian territory.