Half a million artillery shells given to Ukraine to date, Defence Secretary says

Ukraine has received more than half a million rounds of UK artillery ammunition, worth more than £1bn, the Defence Secretary has confirmed.

The announcement came as 50 allies and partners – including Ukraine, the US, Japan and Australia – met for the 26th Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which was chaired by the Defence Secretary John Healey. 

Marking the first time a European nation has chaired the summit, Mr Healey said: "2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine. Ukrainians continue to fight with huge courage – military and civilians alike, and their bravery, fused with our support, has proved a lethal combination. 

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"Speaking as a European Defence Minister, we know our responsibilities. We are doing more of the heavy lifting and sharing more of the burden."

He continued: "While Russia is weakened, it remains undeniably dangerous.  We must step up further and secure peace through strength – together."

He also announced to those in attendance that Ukraine's armed forces will receive a further £150m package, to include more drones, tanks and air defence systems.

The UK is also said to be on track to deliver 10,000 drones to Ukraine in a single year, with the last batches to be received by next month.

Up to £60m has been earmarked to help fix any damaged equipment and armoured vehicles such as Challenger 2 tanks which have been donated.

This is to include a multimillion-pound contract extension awarded to UK defence firm Babcock, which will train Ukrainian personnel to maintain and repair their equipment themselves.

UK defence giant BAE Systems has also been awarded a £14m contract, funded by Sweden, and procured through the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine, to repair Archer artillery systems.

A new British-built surface-to-air missile system is being supplied to Ukraine which it's hoped could be a solution to one of Kyiv's biggest problems – a lack of air defence.

Gravehawk has been developed from scratch in just 18 months and will be used to combat Russian aircraft, missiles and drones.

Gravehawk is highly innovative, relatively cheap – and deadly.