The United Kingdom and its allies will send more military aid to Ukraine

The United Kingdom and its allies have agreed to send more military aid to Ukraine in order to defend against the invasion of Russia, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Thursday.

“There will be more military aid for Ukraine after today's meeting. Several countries have come up with new ideas and, in fact, promised more money to improve Kiev's defense,” Wallace told reporters after hosting more than 35 international partners at the second International Donor Conference for the Defense of Ukraine (IDDCU).

Aid will include the provision of air and coastal defense systems, longer range artillery and counter-battery capabilities, armored vehicles, as well as increased training and logistical support.

“Today's donor conference demonstrates the international community's determination to support Ukraine in the face of the illegal and unprovoked invasion of President Putin by Russian forces,” Wallace said in a later statement.

“We are increasing our coordination to intensify that military support and ensure that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are strengthened as they continue to repel Russian forces.”

Sanctions against “Kremlin propagandists”

Simultaneously, the British Government announced on Thursday 14 sanctions against “Kremlin propagandists”, including Russian state television host Sergey Brilev, as well as Russian Army Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, nicknamed, according to London, “the butcher of Mariupol”.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss said in a statement that the penalties, which include the freezing of assets and the ban on entry into the United Kingdom, target “Russian propagandists and state media who spread lies and falsehoods about the illegal invasion of Ukraine by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin”.

From now on, Brilev, a well-known presenter in the state-owned media group Rossiya, who lived in the UK, “will not be able to access any of his assets” or do business on British territory, the note explains.

State media organizations TV-Novosti, funded by the Kremlin and owner of RT (formerly Russia Today), and Rossiya Segodnya, which controls the Sputnik news agency, are also sanctioned.

Following the decision of the British regulator Ofcom to revoke RT's broadcasting license, these sanctions ensure that this television “cannot operate again” in the UK, and prevent anyone from doing business with both the channel and Sputnik, according to the London ministry.

Other “propagandists” criminalized today include Aleksandr Zharov, CEO of Gazprom-Media and former head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications and Media (Roskomnadzor); Alexey Nikolov, managing director of RT; and Anton Anisimov, director of Sputnik International Broadcasting.

As for Colonel General Mizintsev, London sanctions him as head of the National Defence Command and Control Centre, where all Russian military operations are planned and controlled.

According to Foreign Affairs, Mizintsev is known for “using reprehensible tactics, including the shelling of civilian targets both in Aleppo (Syria) in 2015-16 and now in (the Ukrainian city of) Mariupol”.

Truss notes in the note that “Putin's war against Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies” and notes that “this latest batch of sanctions strikes the shameless propagandists who spread Putin's false news and narratives.”

The United Kingdom also finalizes sanctions against seven other individuals connected to the Strategic Culture Foundation, which Australia has already penalized for its role in spreading disinformation.

Moscow calls the invasion that launched on February 24 a “special military operation”, aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” its neighbor, which Ukraine and the West have dismissed as an unfounded pretext for war.

(With information from Reuters, EFE)

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