Ukraine has showed off an image of a British Challenger battle tank in service on the front line against Putin’s invading forces.
The photograph of the British-made fearsome war machine was posted by the official page of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on X today (Weds) along with the caption: “British-made Challenger 2 tank in service with 82nd Air Assault Brigade.”
The Conservative government made sure the UK was the first country to donate main battle tanks to Ukraine, with the nation donating 14 of the deadly fighting machines in 2023.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge told Express.co.uk: “I am incredibly proud of the lead we showed in Government as the first country to donate Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine.
“We need to keep supporting Ukraine in its valiant fight for freedom, and backing them for as long as it takes.”
In her Budget today (Weds) the Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed Britain to “providing guaranteed military support to Ukraine of £3 billion per year”.
But Ms Reeves stopped short of saying when the UK’s defence spending would rise to 2.5%, a pledge the Labour party had made in its manifesto in line with the target set out by the previous Conservative administration.
The Chancellor told the House of Commons: “As set out in our manifesto, we will set a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence at a future fiscal event.”
Posting on X his assesment of Mr Reeves lack of a clarity on the issue, Mr Cartlidge added: “So, not only do we not have a timetable to get to 2.5% on Defence, we don’t have a timetable to get to a timetable.”
Russia and Ukraine exchanged scores of drone strikes last night as North Korea’s top diplomat arrived in Russia for talks after his country reportedly deployed thousands of soldiers to help Moscow’s war efforts.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched 62 drones and one missile overnight, adding that 33 of them were intercepted and 25 were jammed.
The drones struck a residential building and a nursery in Kyiv, injuring nine people, including a child, according to the city administration.
The city authorities said: “Russian drones did not change their constant tactics, they approached the capital from different directions, at different heights.”
Russian attacks also targeted other regions of Ukraine, killing at least four and injuring about 30 others over the past 24 hours, authorities said.
At the same time, Russian forces have pressed their slow-moving offensive in eastern Ukraine. In Moscow, the Defence Ministry announced the capture of the village of Kruhlyakivka in the Kharkiv region.
The ministry said that air defenses downed 25 Ukrainian drones over several regions in the country’s west and southwest.
Manufacturer: Vickers plc, BAE Systems Land & Armaments
Produced: 1993–2002
Weight: 62.5 tonnes, with a combat ready weight of 75.0 tonnes) with add-on armour modules
Length: 8.3 m (27 ft 3 in), 13.50 m (44 ft 3 in) with gun forward
Width: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in), 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) with appliqué armour
Height: 2.49 m (8 ft 2 in)
Crew: 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader/Operator, Driver)
Main Armament: L30A1 120 mm rifled gun
Secondary Armament: Coaxial 7.62 mm L94A1 chain gun EX-34 (chain gun)
Engine: Perkins CV-12 V12 diesel 26 litre, 1,200 hp (890 kW)
Fuel Capacity: 1,727 litres of diesel
Operational Range: 550 km (340 mi) on road, 250 km (160 mi) off road on internal fuel Speed 59 km/h (37 mph) on road, 40 km/h (25 mph) off road
