Australia to supply Ukraine with over $70mn in military aid

Australia is set to provide a new military package worth $73.5 million to Ukraine, including 70 armored vehicles, for the war against Russia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

The package will include 28 M113 armored vehicles, 14 special operations vehicles, 28 medium trucks and 14 trailers.

The premier claimed the package was not prompted by the fleeting mutiny by a paramilitary organization that has been fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine on Saturday.

"No, we have been working on this proposal, with a view to taking it to cabinet this morning, for some time," Albanese said.

The mutiny reportedly began over differences between the chief of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The affair, however, ended with a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Moreover, Albanese announced that Australia will also extend duty-free access for imports from Ukraine for another 12 months in a bid to boost Kiev's economy and trade.

The latest military package takes Australia's total contribution for Ukraine to A$790 million, including A$610 million in military aid, since the war began in February 2022.

Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the US-led support for Ukraine. It has been providing Kiev with aid, ammunition and military equipment, including dozens of Bushmaster armored vehicles.

Russia began a special operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, as part of a national security measure against the persisting eastern advance of the US-led NATO military alliance as well as protecting eastern Ukraine's Russian-speaking population against hostile attacks by Kiev.

Since then, the US and its Western allies have supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of weapons, despite Moscow's repeated warnings that the Western military assistance to Kiev will only prolong the war.

ME