Last Thursday, the Russian Federation began a horrific, unprovoked attack on Ukraine. This was a premeditated attack against a sovereign, democratic state and the UK government is committed to supporting Ukraine through this dark hour.
We have seen incredible bravery and fortitude from the people of Ukraine. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian army have shown extraordinary courage in fighting for their country and the invasion has not gone as President Putin planned. However, we have also seen some harrowing scenes of civilians under attack.
The UK has, for a number of years now, worked to support Ukraine's security and defence. We have trained over 22,000 members of the Ukrainian army through Operation ORBITAL and, since 2019, assisted Ukraine to build up and sustaining a naval capability. In the months prior to the invasion, the UK provided extra support in the form of 2000 anti-armour missiles to help defensive operations.
Over the course of the past few days, the world has worked together in establishing a package of sanctions in response to the illegal actions of President Putin. These sanctions include freezing the assets of all Russian banks with immediate effect, including VTB, Russia’s largest bank, sanctioning over 100 companies and oligarchs at the heart of Putin’s regime, including much of the Russian defence sector, preventing Russian companies from borrowing on the UK markets, effectively ending the ability of those companies closest to Putin to raise finance in the UK. This is in addition to banning the Russian state itself from raising funds in the UK, as previously announced. The UK has also banned Russia's national airline (Aeroflot) from UK airspace, and indeed any aircraft which is registered in Russia or owned, chartered, or operated by a person connected with Russia from UK airspace.
It is clear that Putin has totally miscalculated the nature of this conflict and the nature of the people of Ukraine. With every hour, the passionate desire of the people of Ukraine to defend their country has become more apparent and millions of people around the world have been stirred and moved by their courage. The UK and allies have been clear all along that there would be a severe cost for any further Russian military incursion into Ukraine. This invasion of a free and sovereign country is not only a tragedy, but it is a colossal mistake, and it is essential that Putin ultimately fails.
