British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attend a meeting with soldiers at Downing Street, London, on 23 June 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/JASON ALDEN / POOL
The United Kingdom will send 350 advanced air defence missiles to Ukraine, paid for with £70m (€82.6m) in interest from seized Russian state assets, as part of a larger military aid package totalling £4.5bn (€5.31bn), the UK’s largest ever yearly commitment to Kyiv’s defences.
The missiles, which were originally manufactured in Britain as air-to-air missiles before being retrofitted by the UK’s Royal Air Force, will be deployed for ground launch using UK-supplied Raven missile systems. While Ukraine currently possesses eight such launcher systems, the UK is transferring an additional five to Ukraine along with the missiles, bringing Kyiv’s total to 15.
As The Guardian reported on Tuesday, this marks the first time that Britain has made use of its Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) scheme to purchase weapons for Ukraine. The UK previously used the ERA scheme to transfer about $1 billion in funds to Ukraine, a move criticised by Putin allies as “a gross violation of international law”.
“Russia, not Ukraine, should pay the price for Putin’s barbaric and illegal war. It is only right we use seized Russian assets to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. The security of Ukraine is vital to our own,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Tuesday prior to NATO’s annual summit in The Hague.
“My message to President Putin is clear: Russia needs to stop its indiscriminate attacks on innocent Ukrainian people and return to the negotiating table,” he said.
John Healey, Britain’s Defence Secretary, added that “using equipment developed jointly by British military engineers and our defence industry”, Britain’s air defence missiles would “save Ukrainian lives”.
Following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, the UK also announced plans this week to team up with Ukraine on defence manufacturing, with a specific focus on jointly developing long-range drones.
According to a Downing Street press release issued on Wednesday, the UK will invest a record £350m (€413m) this year to increase the supply of drones to Ukraine from 10,000 in 2024 to a target of 100,000 in 2025.