Ukraine-Russian war: Boris Johnson says UK could ship armoured vehicles to Poland

Boris Johnson says the UK is looking at sending British tanks to Poland – after it was today revealed Ukrainian troops are in Britain being trained for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion.

Speaking during a news conference in New Delhi, where he held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister today said the Government was contemplating sending the British armoured vehicles to eastern Europe replace Soviet-era T-72 tanks the Poles are shipping to Ukraine.

He told reporters: ‘I think perhaps what I haven’t said publicly before is we’re also looking more at what we can do to backfill in countries such as Poland who may want to send heavier weaponry to help defend the Ukrainians.

‘So we’re looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they sending some of their T-72s to Ukraine.’

It comes as it was today revealed that Ukrainian troops are in Britain being trained to use armoured vehicles supplied by the Ministry of Defence to repel Vladimir Putin’s forces.

More than 20 soldiers arrived last week in the UK for training on the 120 vehicles being supplied to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s resistance as Boris Johnson steps up military support to help in the war.

As well as being trained on the Mastiff, Wolfhound and Husky armoured vehicles, the Ukrainians will be shown how to use the Samaritan ambulance, and Sultan and Samson armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

‘I think perhaps what I haven’t said publicly before is we’re also looking more at what we can do to backfill in countries such as Poland who may want to send heavier weaponry to help defend the Ukrainians,’ Johnson said. ‘So we’re looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they sending some of their T-72s to Ukraine.’

The Prime Minister confirmed last night for the first time that Ukrainian forces were in the UK to journalists travelling with him in India, where he is pressing for a loosening of ties with Russia.

‘I can say that we’re currently training Ukrainians in Poland in the use of the anti-aircraft defences and actually in this country (the UK) in the use of the armoured vehicles,’ he told reporters.

Further Ukrainian forces are expected to be making their way to the UK for training in the future. The Prime Minister’s press secretary said ‘a couple of dozen’ Ukrainians were currently in the UK for training.