Australia to provide Ukraine with drones and MANPADS worth tens million dollars

"As part of the drone coalition, Australia will supply us with drones worth $32.5 million. Ukraine will also receive a large batch of RBS 70 man-portable air defense systems worth several tens of millions of dollars," Shmyhal said during a briefing with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles.

The Ukrainian prime minister also thanked Australia for its powerful contribution to Ukraine's victory.

Updated at 17:05

In his Telegram channel, Shmyhal clarified that the total cost of the new aid package from Australia is $100 million.

"Half of this amount will be spent on a large batch of man-portable air defense systems. More than $30 million will be spent on drones as part of the 'drone coalition', and the rest will be spent on other military needs. In addition, Australia will provide Ukraine with air-to-ground ammunition," the Prime Minister said.

Help from allies

Yesterday, on April 26, the twenty-first meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format took place. The meeting was held on the anniversary of the first Ramstein meeting on April 26, 2022.

The day before, a number of countries announced additional military aid packages for Ukraine. In particular, these are the United Kingdom, Estonia, Denmark, and other countries.

In addition, the United States announced the largest aid package for Ukraine, amounting to about $6 billion.

During the Ramstein meeting, the allies discussed the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. Thus, Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin assured that the first F-16 aircraft would arrive in Ukraine this year, along with trained pilots.