The U.S. and NATO allies the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Netherlands are joining forces to deliver hundreds of short- and medium-range air defense missiles to Ukraine to help protect civilian targets and prevent attacks like a Russian airstrike on Tuesday that killed more than a dozen people in an apartment building.

Delivery of the missiles has already begun and should be complete within “several weeks,” officials said Thursday ahead of a June 15 meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

“We will continue to provide Ukraine with the urgent capabilities that it needs to meet this moment, as well as what it needs to keep itself secure for the long term from Russian aggression,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. “I ask that the members of this Contact Group continue to dig deep to provide Ukraine with the air defense assets and munitions that it so urgently needs to protect its citizens.”

U.S. support efforts for Ukraine are grounded in a broader strategic approach, Mr. Austin said.

“We seek to ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities that it needs to protect its citizens and territory, and to deter further aggression from the Russians, and ultimately to prevail over [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s campaign of cruelty and conquest,” he said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.