Britain has announced new military, energy and nuclear-safety support for Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s talks with Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London.
Burnham announced £45 million ($59.4 million) in surface-to-air missiles for Ukraine, with £10 million ($13.2 million) being fast-tracked to meet urgent needs.
Britain is also providing £54 million ($71 million) in winter assistance, including £20 million ($26.4 million) for energy support.
The government has separately allocated £17 million ($22 million) for repairs to the protective shelter at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged by a Russian drone strike last year.
The new support comes as Russia continues attacks across Ukraine.
Russian forces struck energy facilities in Kyiv and Kharkiv, leaving around 600,000 people without power, according to Ukrainian officials.
A Russian missile strike on Kyiv damaged a high-rise apartment building and killed two people, while 21 others were injured. A thermal power plant was also hit.
Later, six people were killed in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, where regional officials said a warehouse and a residential building were struck.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out a large-scale attack on communications and energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
The latest attacks have come despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump said both sides had agreed to stop attacks on energy infrastructure and that the ceasefire was effective immediately.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv initially confirmed that they had reached a mutual agreement.
Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to respect the ceasefire if Russia does the same. He has accused Moscow of violating the arrangement through continued attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine was holding back from attacking Russian energy targets to show respect for Trump’s announcement.
The ceasefire dispute comes amid growing tensions between Kyiv and Washington.
Trump has repeatedly called on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, blaming the strikes for contributing to higher diesel prices in the U.S.
He also said it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president”, prompting Zelenskyy to reject the idea that Washington should determine Ukraine’s leadership.
Zelenskyy has instead called for U.S. pressure on Russia and said Ukraine would stop attacks on Russian refineries if Moscow halted strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The tensions intensified before Trump announced the energy ceasefire.
The Financial Times, citing European and Ukrainian officials, reported that U.S. officials had contacted Kyiv and European capitals and threatened to cut intelligence sharing and the PURL mechanism used to procure U.S. weapons for Ukraine if Kyiv continued attacking Russian oil refineries.
Reuters could not independently verify the report, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine has also reported disruptions to military-grade Starlink satellite communications operated by SpaceX.
Ukrainian officials said restrictions on the system had affected some military missions, including the operation of drones.
Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to take advantage of the problems because Ukrainian interceptor drones rely heavily on the connection.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that limits on Starlink’s speed or usage were decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president.
The issue has added to concerns in Kyiv about the reliability of U.S. military support.
Alongside its new military assistance, Britain is urging allies to maintain pressure on Moscow.
British Finance Minister John Healey called for tighter restrictions on shipping services used by Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
“My message to finance ministers here today, as well on Ukraine, is to stay the path on tough economic sanctions on Russia,” Healey said.
Burnham has also asked ministers to develop further sanctions, military assistance and financial support for Ukraine.
The British government says it has committed almost £25 billion ($33 billion) in total support to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
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