Ukraine starts receiving UK's biggest-ever drone package

KYIV/MOSCOW — Ukraine has started receiving drones from the biggest drone package ever announced by Britain, the Ukrainian defense ministry said on Wednesday.

"We are grateful to the UK for the largest-ever batch of drones for Ukraine … They have already begun arriving and are strengthening our front line," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

This year, Ukraine is expected to receive a total of 120,000 drones as part of the package, including strike, reconnaissance, logistics, and maritime models, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Britain pledged to deliver at least 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year under the package. The initiative is backed by Britain's wider 3-billion-pound (about $4.07 billion) military support for Ukraine this year, as well as the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loan initiative.

Russia's defense ministry warned on Wednesday that European plans to step up drone supplies to Ukraine are dragging those countries deeper into a conflict with Russia.

The ministry said it believes governments in a number of EU countries have decided to increase the production and supply of drones to Ukraine, a move Moscow views as a step that is escalating the conflict.

It published a list of factories and enterprises in several countries that it alleges manufacture drones or drone components, and provided their addresses, including sites in Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland, among others.

"The European public should not only have a clear understanding of the true causes of the threats to their security, but also be aware of the addresses and locations of Ukrainian and joint enterprises producing UAVs and components for Ukraine within their own countries," it said.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, said in a subsequent post on X that the list published by the military amounted to a list of potential targets for Russia's armed forces.

"When strikes become a reality depends on what comes next. Sleep well, European partners!" he said.

Russian officials, including Medvedev, have repeatedly made public statements that have been perceived as threats to European countries over their support for Ukraine.

However, these have generally taken the form of warnings and veiled hints rather than outright announcements of imminent strikes.