Military Aid and Arms for Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
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Military Aid and Arms for Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)

Several Western countries have provided Ukraine with military aid and weapons, since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24.

Announced deliveries have mainly involved defensive weapons, but the situation is evolving fast, AFP said.

Among the offensive weapons which are playing an important role are US-made Javelin missile launchers capable of piercing the most sophisticated armor, such as T-90 Russian tanks, and Turkish drones.

Often the aid includes protective gear like helmets and body armor, and food rations.

Here is a panorama of announced military aid. It is not exhaustive and some of the promised aid has still to be delivered.

- United States -US President Joe Biden announced on April 21 a new package of $800 million in military aid for Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the newest round of US support will include 72 155mm howitzers, 72 armored vehicles to tow them, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 120 "Phoenix Ghost" tactical drones recently developed by the US Air Force specifically to address Ukraine's needs.

The new package follows another $800 million in military assistance announced by the White House on April 13, including helicopters, howitzers and armored personnel carriers.

Previously the United States had supplied or promised Ukraine 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, several thousand rifles with ammunition and a range of other equipment.

- Turkey - Kyiv had before the Russian invasion around 20 Bayraktar TB2 drones, built by the Turkish military.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in early March Kyiv had received new drones, which some experts number at 16.

Kyiv also said a TB2 acted as decoy, distracting the defenses of the Russian warship Moskva with a TB2, while it pounded it with missiles on the other side before sinking it last week.

Some experts say that Turkish drones continue to be delivered to Ukraine, something not confirmed by Ankara.

- United Kingdom -The UK says it has distributed more than 200,000 items so far, including 4,800 NLAW anti-tank missiles, and a small number of Javelin missiles.

It also announced it was sending 6,000 other missiles, consisting of anti-tank and high explosive weapons.

It has also sent Starstreak high-velocity anti-aircraft missiles and according to reports is planning to send Stormer armored missile launchers, on which Starstreak can be mounted.

It has also vowed to send 120 Mastiff, Wolfhound and Husky armored vehicles and a new anti-ship missile system.

It has also sent Poland a Sky Sabre medium-range, anti-air missile system.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on April 22 the UK is considering sending tanks to Poland so that Warsaw can send its own to Ukrainian forces fighting against Russia.

- Canada -Canada has since 2015 committed over $141 million Canadian dollars ($112.6 million) for defensive military equipment for Ukraine. Some $118 million of that has come since February 2022.

Since February Ottawa has announced that it is sending defensive military aid, weapons and ammunition, hand grenades, rocket launchers, surveillance and detection equipment.

This week, it sent for the first time to Ukraine heavy artillery -- M777 howitzers -- and munitions. It also said it was planning to send armored vehicles.

- Germany -At the beginning of the conflict, Germany announced it was sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons, 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, around 2,700 Strela anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition to Ukraine.

According to media reports, Germany has also sent around 100 machine guns, 100,000 grenades, 2,000 mines, 15 bunker busting bombs, detonators and explosive charges.

Germany also has a say in where weapons that used to belong to the former East German army end up. Berlin has approved requests from other countries (Estonia, Czech Republic) to send some of those ex-East German, Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine, including howitzers and armored personnel carriers.

- Spain -Spain has shipped 200 tons of military equipment, including 30 trucks, several special heavy transport vehicles, and 10 small vehicles loaded with the military material to Ukraine.

- France -France has delivered more than 100 million euros of military equipment to Ukraine, according to Defense Minister Florence Parly.

France is sending several heavy artillery pieces to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron said on April 22.

"We are delivering significant equipment, from Milan (anti-tank missiles) to Caesar (self-propelled howitzers)," Macron told regional newspaper Ouest-France.

- Nordic countries -Norway has sent 100 French-made Mistral anti-air missiles to Ukraine as well as 4,000 M72 anti-tank weapons.

Sweden announced in late February it would send 5,000 single use anti-tank launchers (internationally known as AT-4), then another 5,000 anti-tank launchers in March, along with demining equipment.

Finland announced in February it would send 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 rounds of ammunition, and 1,500 single use anti-tank launchers. On March 24 the country said it would send another shipment of arms to Ukraine but did not provide specifics of what that would entail.

Denmark announced on February 27 that it would send 2,700 anti-tank launchers. On April 21, Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, while on a visit to Kyiv, announced that her country would contribute another 600 million Danish kroner ($88 million) for weapons.

- Ukraine's neighbors - Poland has sent Ukraine drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Grot assault rifles, 60 mm mortars, and MANPADs short range surface to air missiles

There are also unconfirmed reports of Poland sending 40 T-72 tanks and 60 BMP-1 armored personnel carriers

Slovakia has so far contributed military material worth around 62.5 million euros and also provided an S-300 air defense system.

The EU member is also negotiating with Ukraine on the possibility of sending over Zuzana howitzers.

Romania said in late February it was sending fuel, ammunition and other military equipment totaling three million euros.

- Baltic states -Latvia has contributed military material worth more than 200 million euros -- including ammunition, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and their launch pads, unmanned aircraft and drones.

Lithuania said it has sent military aid to Ukraine worth "tens of millions" of euros. This includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, mortars, rifles, ammunition and other military equipment.

Estonia has given 227.5 million euros of military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missile system missiles, 122 mm howitzers, anti-tank mines and anti-tank guns, and handguns along with ammunition.

- Central and Eastern Europe -Slovenia announced in late February it was sending Kalashnikovs and ammunition.

According to German media Slovenia will send a large number of its assault tanks in return for German Marder tanks and Fuchs armored troop carriers.

Bulgaria is not officially providing military equipment to Ukraine due to opposition from pro-Russian socialists. But the country's exports of military equipment to EU countries almost tripled between February 20 and April 13 compared to the same period of 2021.

The Czech Republic has donated military material worth 45.2 million euros, including small arms and missiles. Local media have reported that Prague sent over Dana self-propelled howitzers and RM-70 Grad rocket launchers, Soviet-made T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The defense ministry has also announced that Czech companies will repair the Ukrainian army’s tanks.

- Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Italy -Belgium says it has sent 5,000 automatic rifles and anti tank weapons to Ukraine.

The Netherlands in late February promised the delivery of 200 Stinger missiles.

Greece has provided defensive aid, including 400 Kalashnikovs, launchers and ammunition.

Italy is keeping its arms deliveries to Ukraine under a veil of secrecy.

- Japan - Japan has announced it will send electric generators and drones to Ukraine.



Japan PM Takaichi Reappointed Following Election

Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
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Japan PM Takaichi Reappointed Following Election

Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Sanae Takaichi gestures at the Lower House of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, 18 February 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Japan's lower house formally reappointed Sanae Takaichi as prime minister on Wednesday, 10 days after her historic landslide election victory.

Takaichi, 64, became Japan's first woman premier in October and won a two-thirds majority for her party in the snap lower house elections on February 8.

She has pledged to bolster Japan's defenses to protect its territory and waters, likely further straining relations with Beijing, and to boost the flagging economy.

Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

China, which regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it, was furious.

Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that forces in Japan were seeking to "revive militarism".

In a policy speech expected for Friday, Takaichi will pledge to update Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" strategic framework, local media reported.

"Compared with when FOIP was first proposed, the international situation and security environment surrounding Japan have become significantly more severe," chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said Monday.

In practice this will likely mean strengthening supply chains and promoting free trade through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that Britain joined in 2024.

Takaichi's government also plans to pass legislation to establish a National Intelligence Agency and to begin concrete discussions towards an anti-espionage law, the reports said.

Takaichi has promised too to tighten rules surrounding immigration, even though Asia's number two economy is struggling with labor shortages and a falling population.

On Friday Takaichi will repeat her campaign pledge to suspend consumption tax on food for two years in order to ease inflationary pressures on households, local media said, according to AFP.

This promise has exacerbated market worries about Japan's colossal debt, with yields on long-dated government bonds hitting record highs last month.

Rahul Anand, the International Monetary Fund chief of mission in Japan, said Wednesday that debt interest payments would double between 2025 and 2031.

"Removing the consumption tax (on food) would weaken the tax revenue base, since the consumption tax is an important way to raise revenues without creating distortions in the economy," Anand said.

To ease such concerns, Takaichi will on Friday repeat her mantra of having a "responsible, proactive" fiscal policy and set a target on reducing government debt, the reports said.

She will also announce the creation of a cross-party "national council" to discuss taxation and how to fund ageing Japan's ballooning social security bill.

But Takaichi's first order of business will be obtaining approval for Japan's budget for the fiscal year beginning on April 1 after the process was delayed by the election.

The ruling coalition also wants to pass legislation that will outlaw destroying the Japanese flag, according to the media reports.

It wants too to accelerate debate on changing the constitution and on revising the imperial family's rules to ease a looming succession crisis.

Takaichi and many within her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) oppose making it possible for a woman to become emperor, but rules could be changed to "adopt" new male members.


Türkiye: Ocalan Announces ‘Integration Phase’

Members of the Kurdish community take part in a protest calling for the release of convicted Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir on February 15, 2026. (Photo by Ilyas AKENGIN / AFP)
Members of the Kurdish community take part in a protest calling for the release of convicted Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir on February 15, 2026. (Photo by Ilyas AKENGIN / AFP)
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Türkiye: Ocalan Announces ‘Integration Phase’

Members of the Kurdish community take part in a protest calling for the release of convicted Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir on February 15, 2026. (Photo by Ilyas AKENGIN / AFP)
Members of the Kurdish community take part in a protest calling for the release of convicted Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir on February 15, 2026. (Photo by Ilyas AKENGIN / AFP)

The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party, Abdullah Ocalan, has said that the Ankara-PKK peace process has entered its “second phase,” as the Turkish parliament sets the stage to vote on a draft report proposing legal reforms tied to peace efforts.

A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), including lawmakers Pervin Buldan, Mithat Sancar, and Ocalan’s lawyer Ozgur Faik, met with the jailed PKK leader on Monday on the secluded Imrali island.

Sancar said that the second phase will be focused on democratic integration into
Türkiye’s political system.

According to the lawmaker, the PKK leader considered the first phase the “negative dimension” concerned with ending the decades-old conflict between the armed group and Ankara.

“Now we are facing the positive phase,” Ocalan said, “the integration phase is the positive phase; it is the phase of construction.”

For the second phase to be implemented, Ocalan called on Turkish authorities to provide conditions that would allow him to put his “theoretical and practical capacity” to work.

The 60-page draft report on peace with the PKK was completed by a five-member writing team, which is chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, and is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday.

The report is organized into seven sections.

In July last year, Ocalan said the group's armed struggle against Türkiye has ended and called for a full shift to democratic politics.


Iranians Chant Slogans Against Supreme Leader at Memorials for Slain Protesters

An Iranian man holds the Iranian national flag during a memorial ceremony for those killed in anti-government protests earlier last month, at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran, Iran, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian man holds the Iranian national flag during a memorial ceremony for those killed in anti-government protests earlier last month, at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran, Iran, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
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Iranians Chant Slogans Against Supreme Leader at Memorials for Slain Protesters

An Iranian man holds the Iranian national flag during a memorial ceremony for those killed in anti-government protests earlier last month, at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran, Iran, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian man holds the Iranian national flag during a memorial ceremony for those killed in anti-government protests earlier last month, at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran, Iran, 17 February 2026. (EPA)

Iranians shouted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday as they gathered to commemorate protesters killed in a crackdown on nationwide demonstrations that rights groups said left thousands dead, according to videos verified by AFP.

The country's clerical authorities also staged a commemoration in the capital Tehran to mark the 40th day since the deaths at the peak of the protests on January 8 and 9.

Officials acknowledge more than 3,000 people died during the unrest, but attribute the violence to "terrorist acts", while rights groups say many more thousands of people were killed, shot dead by security forces in a violent crackdown.

The protests, sparked by anger over the rising cost of living before exploding in size and anti-government fervor, subsided after the crackdown, but in recent days Iranians have chanted slogans from the relative safety of homes and rooftops at night.

On Tuesday, videos verified by AFP showed crowds gathering at memorials for some of those killed again shouting slogans against the theocratic government in place since the 1979 revolution.

In videos geolocated by AFP shared on social media, a crowd in Abadan in western Iran holds up flowers and commemorative photos of a young man as they shout "death to Khamenei" and "long live the shah", in support of the ousted monarchy.

Another video from the same city shows people running in panic from the sounds of shots, though it wasn't immediately clear if they were from live fire.

In the northeastern city of Mashhad a crowd in the street chanted, "One person killed, thousands have his back", another verified video showed.

Gatherings also took place in other parts of the country, according to videos shared by rights groups.

- Official commemorations -

At the government-organized memorial in Tehran crowds carried Iranian flags and portraits of those killed as nationalist songs played and chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" echoed through the Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attended a similar event at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.

Authorities have accused sworn enemies the United States and Israel of fueling "foreign-instigated riots", saying they hijacked peaceful protests with killings and vandalism.

Senior officials, including First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Revolutionary Guards commander Esmail Qaani, attended the ceremony.

"Those who supported rioters and terrorists are criminals and will face the consequences," Qaani said, according to Tasnim news agency.

International organizations have said evidence shows Iranian security forces targeted protesters with live fire under the cover of an internet blackout.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher.

More than 53,500 people have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown, HRANA added, with rights groups warning protesters could face execution.

Tuesday's gatherings coincided with a second round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States in Geneva, amid heightened tensions after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following Iran's crackdown on the protests.