UK to supply Ukraine with air defence missiles

The announcement comes after Western allies on Wednesday vowed to rapidly deliver new air defences to Ukraine to bolster protection against Russian aerial attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a barrage across Ukraine on Monday following a blast at a bridge to the annexed Crimea peninsula.

"The AMRAAM rockets... will be provided in the coming weeks for use with the NASAMS air defence systems pledged by the US," the British defence ministry said in a statement.

"The rockets will help to protect Ukraine's critical national infrastructure," it said.

Britain said it would also send hundreds of drones to support Ukraine's intelligence services as well as 18 howitzer artillery guns, in addition to 64 already delivered.

"These weapons will help Ukraine defend its skies from attacks and strengthen their overall missile defence alongside the US NASAMS," British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had on Tuesday called on the G7 club of wealthy nations including Britain to help Kyiv create an "air shield".

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the "top priority" of Ukraine's Western backers was to provide Kyiv with more air defences to protect against Russia's "indiscriminate" attacks.

Defence ministers from the Western military alliance are meeting on Thursday in Brussels.