I Paesi Bassi dona 500 milioni in Ucraina per l’acquisto di droni

[TRANSLATION]

The Dutch government is giving Ukraine 500 million euros to purchase drones for the war against Russia. This was announced this afternoon by Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans and State Secretary Gijs Tuinman during a visit to Ukraine.

Drones play an important role in the three-year war between Ukraine and Russia. The unmanned systems are important for the Ukrainians to keep the Russians at a distance as much as possible.

But also to achieve the most favourable peace possible for the country in the future, according to Brekelmans. That is why the Ukrainian armed forces are also investing heavily in the use and development of small, and relatively cheap, unmanned systems.

Minister Brekelmans and State Secretary Tuinman also saw the importance of drones on the battlefield during their visit to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. That city was the target of a Russian airstrike on Friday, in which four people were killed and 21 injured.

The Netherlands previously also gave hundreds of millions to Ukraine for the production of drones. This amount is added to that.

Deliveries of Dutch military equipment will continue as usual, such as the further support of the F-16s donated to Ukraine and the delivery of ammunition, according to the ministers.

In total, the Netherlands has pledged more than 10.5 billion euros in military support to Ukraine. 6 billion of this has already been spent.