Australia to supply Ukraine with over $70mn in military aid

Australia is set to provide a new military package worth $73.5 million to Ukraine, including 70 armored vehicles, for the war against Russia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

"This additional support will make a real difference, helping the Ukrainian people who continue to show great courage in the face of Russia's illegal... war," Albanese said during a press briefing in Canberra on Monday.

The package will include 28 M113 armored vehicles, 14 special operations vehicles, 28 medium trucks and 14 trailers.

The premier claimed the package was not prompted by the fleeting mutiny by a paramilitary organization that has been fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine on Saturday.

"No, we have been working on this proposal, with a view to taking it to cabinet this morning, for some time," Albanese said.

The mutiny reportedly began over differences between the chief of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The affair, however, ended with a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Moreover, Albanese announced that Australia will also extend duty-free access for imports from Ukraine for another 12 months in a bid to boost Kiev's economy and trade.

The latest military package takes Australia's total contribution for Ukraine to A$790 million, including A$610 million in military aid, since the war began in February 2022.

Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the US-led support for Ukraine. It has been providing Kiev with aid, ammunition and military equipment, including dozens of Bushmaster armored vehicles.

Russia began what it described as a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, as part of a national security measure against the persisting eastern advance of the US-led NATO military alliance as well as protecting eastern Ukraine's Russian-speaking population against hostile attacks by Kiev.

Since then, the US and its Western allies have supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of weapons, despite Moscow's repeated warnings that the Western military assistance to Kiev will only prolong the war.

Kremlin insists Ukraine military ops not affected by Wagner affair

Kremlin declares the Wagner affair will "under no circumstances" affect Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

While Kiev's backers continue to pour billions in military aid into Ukraine, Russia continues to score gains against the Ukrainians even following the armed mutiny by the Wagner Group.

On Monday, TASS news agency cited Alexander Savchuk, a spokesman for the Battlegroup Center, as saying that  Russian forces pounded Ukrainian positions with artillery fire and airstrikes, inflicting heavy losses on the Ukrainian troops.

According to the report, nearly 30 Ukrainian artillery positions near Krasny Liman in the eastern region of Donetsk were destroyed.

In the meantime, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called for more pressure on Russia following his phone call with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Sunday, in which they discussed additional military aid to Kiev.

Washington is the biggest supplier of weaponry to the Ukrainian military.

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