Britain pledges major air defence package for Ukraine

Britain on Thursday (February 12, 2026) pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in air defences for Ukraine to help stave off Russian attacks on the country’s power and heating systems.

The British Defence Ministry said some $200 million would go to a NATO scheme backed by U.S. President Donald Trump to buy American weaponry for Kyiv.

London will also send Ukraine 1,000 British-made lightweight missiles worth more than $500 million to Kyiv.

British Defence Minister John Healey said Ukraine’s allies “are more committed than ever to supporting Ukraine” as Russia’s war nears the start of its fifth year.

The announcement came as NATO Defence Ministers met in Brussels to discuss ramping up support to Ukraine.

Ferocious Russian bombardments on the war-torn country’s energy grid have seen heating and power cuts for swathes of the country during freezing winter conditions.

“It’s just terrorism against the civilian population of Ukraine,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

“So it is necessary to ramp up the support for Ukraine in terms of self-defence.”