(SeaPRwire) – On Wednesday, Ukraine’s allied nations pledged a large new military assistance package, which includes 120,000 drones from the United Kingdom, after Russia launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles in a new round of overnight strikes.
These commitments were made as Kyiv warned of intensifying Russian bombardments and made urgent calls for additional air defense systems.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian officials stated that Russia launched 324 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight Wednesday, as part of a wider surge in aerial attacks.
The Associated Press reported that Russian strikes hit more than seven Ukrainian areas located behind the front line on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reported that from November to March alone, Moscow fired roughly 27,000 Shahed-type drones, nearly 600 cruise missiles and 462 ballistic missiles.
“We need air defense missiles every single day — every day Russia keeps carrying out its strikes,” Zelenskyy stated in a post on Telegram.
Ukrainian officials said the latest attacks hit multiple regions behind the front lines, leaving an 8-year-old boy dead in the central Cherkasy region and a woman injured in southern Zaporizhzhia.
The war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has now dragged on for more than three years.
Defense leaders from around 50 countries held a virtual meeting Wednesday to coordinate military aid and ramp up weapons production, with a special focus on air defense systems.
The meeting was chaired by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and British Defense Secretary John Healey, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also in attendance. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby represented the United States at the session.
Several countries also announced new aid contributions for Ukraine. Germany and Ukraine reached an agreement on a 4 billion euro ($4.7 billion) defense package, while Norway pledged 9 billion euros (around $10.6 billion) in assistance.
The Netherlands stated it will allocate 248 million euros ($293 million) to manufacture drones for Ukraine. The United Kingdom committed to providing 120,000 drones.
Russia pushed back against the expanded support, warning that European efforts to increase drone production for Ukraine carry the risk of deepening Europe’s involvement in the conflict.
According to TASS, the Russian Defense Ministry said the decision by European countries to supply drones to Ukraine is leading to an escalation of the military-political situation and a “creeping transformation” of those countries into Ukraine’s strategic support base.
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