The British and French-led “Volunteer Alliance” held a meeting on the 24th in Kiev, Ukraine‘s capital, to discuss issues such as supply of anti-aircraft equipment to Ukraine. At the meeting, the British and French leaders pledged to increase military assistance to Ukraine, including sharing cruise missile manufacturing technology with the Ukrainian side to establish production lines in the country, as well as accelerating anti-aircraft missile delivery. However, experts pointed out that missile production capacity construction will not be effective until next year at the earliest, and Ukraine needs to “first safely get through this winter.”
On August 20, residents were evacuated from apartments in the Solomensky district of Kiev, Ukraine. Xinhua News Agency (Peter Drucker)
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More than a dozen European leaders and politicians visited Kiev on Independence Day of Ukraine, including Burnham, who took office as British Prime Minister in July, for the first time since taking office.
Burnham said at the Volunteer Alliance meeting that he had authorized the European Missile Group to share with Ukraine the secret manufacturing technology of British parts for the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile, so that France and Ukraine could advance the construction of missile production lines in the country. The Storm Shadow missile is jointly developed by France and Britain, and according to Reuters, France had previously agreed to authorize the use of the relevant technology by the Ukrainian side.
The Russian side responded by saying that Britain‘s plan to share cruise missile production technology with Ukraine was “getting oil on the fire”, and Russia gave this “extremely negative” evaluation. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said on 24 that Britain‘s move was equivalent to standing on the side of Ukraine “participating in the war”. The Russian military is collecting relevant information to determine possible missile production sites in Ukraine, and will take measures to “destroy” them.
Douglas Barry, a senior researcher at the British International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Associated Press that Britain and France‘s assistance to Ukraine in producing missiles within the country would depend in part on when these missiles could be truly deployed. Alan Dawson, a researcher at the British Freeman Aerospace Institute, believed that what Ukraine urgently needed to improve before winter arrived was its air defense capabilities.
Insufficient number of antiaircraft missiles
The Patriot anti-aircraft missile system is currently the only weapon system in Ukraine that can be used to intercept high-speed ballistic missiles launched by Russia. According to CNN, the U.S. and its allies‘ supply of similar missiles to Ukraine has drastically decreased due to the large consumption of Patriot interceptors during the war in Iran that broke out in late February, and the U.S. Patriot missile system has “not been operational for several weeks.”
Ukrainian President Zelensky pleaded with his allies to provide aid with anti-aircraft equipment for Ukraine at a meeting of the “Volunteer Alliance”. Zelensky said it was expected that Western allies would provide Ukraine with only 264 Patriot interceptors throughout 2026, down more than half from 675 in 2023, and that Ukraine would need at least 300 of these interceptors to “save this winter safely”.
French President Macron, who attended the conference remotely online, said France would “do everything in its power” to provide interception bombs to Ukraine; other allies should also speed up the delivery.
Burnham, on the other hand, said the UK would strengthen industrial cooperation with the Ukrainian side in order to provide cheaper alternatives to the “Patriots” air defense systems used by the Ukrainian side. In addition, according to Bloomberg, Burnham plans to visit the United States in September along with other European leaders to persuade U.S. President Trump to transfer some of the “Patriots” interceptor bomb stocks to Ukraine before winter comes.
In recent days, attacks on each other‘s industrial and economic infrastructure have continued to escalate. The Ukrainian side launched attacks on four logistics hubs of the Russian e-commerce giant Orson Company and a Russian defense company that produces missile fuel on the 24th. The Russian defense ministry later revealed that its air defense system intercepted a total of 351 Ukrainian drones that night. The Russian side launched missile and drone attacks on the Odessa region in southern Ukraine on the same day, with food storage and energy infrastructure all becoming targets. (Wang Yifan)