Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport, has reaffirmed her commitment to supporting Ukraine on the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Since the illegal invasion on 24 February 2022, the UK Government has provided over £7 billion of military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This includes the most recent announcement by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, that in the year 2024/25 the UK will increase its contribution by £200 million on the previous two years to £2.5 billion.
The United Kingdom has led the way in being the first country in the world to send main battle tanks to Ukraine, whilst the £200 million earmarked for drone procurement this year will make the UK the biggest drone partner with Ukraine. In total, the UK ranks third in the world for total support for Ukraine.
At home, since June 2022 more than 34,000 Ukrainian personnel have been trained in the UK, whilst just under 142,000 Ukrainians have arrived for safety in the UK via the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
According to Government data, 140 visas have been issued under the Homes for Ukraine scheme for Gosport, whilst 4,040 have been issued for Hampshire.
To date, over 10,000 civilians have died as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, with many more injured. The conflict shows no signs of coming to an end.
Marking the two-year anniversary, Caroline said:
“The UK has led the world in its support for Ukraine, with military, economic, and humanitarian aid. We have been generous, opening up our homes to displaced Ukrainians, and our training bases to Ukrainian soldiers. We’ve implemented the widest range of economic sanctions ever, going even further in recent days in light of the death of Alexei Navalny. We will continue to do all that it takes because we know that a fight for Ukraine, is a fight for democracy against Putin’s tyranny and global security. Ukraine and her courageous people are never far from our thoughts."
Speaking in the House of Commons, Defence Secretary of State Grant Shapps said:
“As this war drags into its third year, far from winning, Russia has been pushed back since those early days. Putin has achieved none of his strategic objectives, his invading force has suffered a staggering 356,000 casualties, and Ukraine has destroyed or damaged about 30% of the Russian Black Sea fleet and retaken 50% of the territory that Russia stole from it.
“I am proud that, over the course of the past 730 days, Britain has been at the forefront of [the] global response.
“We are giving Ukraine more of the help it needs, inflating its capabilities so that it can defend freedom’s frontline. The UK will not stop supporting the brave Ukrainians, our friends, until they have won and have victory.”
ENDS
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