Dutch defence boosts Ukraine with £334m drone initiative
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced new military support for Ukraine. On Sunday, during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, he revealed a £334 million investment in developing advanced military drones and further deliveries of F-16 fighter jets for the Ukrainian Air Force.
The minister emphasised that half of this amount will be spent in the Netherlands, while the rest will be allocated to projects in Ukraine and other countries.
The war, of course, is intensifying every day, and Ukraine is setting up more brigades who all need support, who all need military equipment. We need to have this continuous flow of support, said Brekelmans in an interview with Reuters.
He added that the cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands in advanced technologies aims to improve armaments on the battlefield. According to the cooperation plan, the development of combat drones will focus on integrating Ukrainian innovations with Dutch technological expertise.
We will focus on different types of drones, so both surveillance drones, more defensive drones, but also the attack drones, because we see that Ukraine needs those more offensive drones also to target military facilities, stated Brekelmans.
If the project is successful, the Netherlands will consider increasing funds for further drone production.
The Hague declared aid worth £8 billion. Half has already been spent
Last Saturday, the minister visited Kharkiv, a city constantly bombarded by Russian forces. In defending this region, Brekelmans emphasised that attacking military targets on Russian territory remains the only effective method of defending the city close to the Russian border. Ukrainian diplomacy has long been systematically appealing to international partners for permission to use their weapons to attack targets deep in Russian territory and for further support in terms of air defence.
The Netherlands has already significantly supported Ukrainian aviation, encouraging allies to supply F-16 fighter jets and promising to deliver 24 such aircraft.
According to the minister, the first batch of planes from the Netherlands already operates in Ukrainian airspace. In contrast, the others will be delivered "in the upcoming months and maybe beginning of next year," stated Brekelmans.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Hague has declared military support totalling £8 billion. So far, the Dutch government has already allocated £3 billion for arms supplies, military equipment, and direct financial support for Ukraine's armed forces.
