Ukrainian tank crews have arrived in Great Britain for training and preparation for further participation in the war with Russia, the press service of the British defence ministry has said.
“Ukrainian tankers have arrived in the UK to prepare for further combat with Russia,” the statement reads.
It specifies that the UK will provide Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks along with global partner countries, demonstrating the strength of Ukraine’s support internationally.
The United Kingdom has transferred 900 generators to Ukraine and sent about 15,000 extreme cold weather kits, the head of Britain’s defense ministry, Ben Wallace, said.
“Britain has handed over 900 generators to Ukraine and sent about 15,000 extreme cold weather kits to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including cold weather clothing, heavy sleeping bags and insulated tents,” Wallace was quoted as saying by the press service of the AFU General Staff on Sunday.
He also expressed his belief that another 10,000 cold-weather kits will be delivered to Ukraine on Christmas Day.
Since the start of the full-scale war, 140-150 thousand Ukrainians have come to the UK, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Pristayko said.
“About 200 thousand visas have been issued. Reached British shores about 140-150 thousand. This figure fluctuates: someone has to go back to Ukraine, someone settled for a longer period, children went to school. All the Ukrainians who came here received financial assistance, they are connected to free programs, to the health care system. I am sure Ukrainians feel protected. There are many opportunities for employment,” Prystayko said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center.
According to some estimates, as the ambassador noted, “already half of all adult Ukrainians who have moved here have some kind of job.
The Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines has received TCO (Third Country Operator) authorization from the UK aviation authorities.
As noted in the announcement of the airline, circulated on Wednesday evening, it confirms compliance with the United Kingdom’s requirements in aviation security and allows flights to this country. The authorization does not have a validity period, but it must be confirmed every 24 months.
“The need to obtain British TCO authorization is related to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. If previously the European regulator’s [EASA] authorization was sufficient to carry out flights, then from the beginning of 2023 new documents from the aviation authorities of Great Britain are required,” the airline said.
To get authorization, the airline has provided detailed information on operations, fleet, flight history, internal manuals and data on operational procedures, flight safety management system, etc. The British side has also received confirmation from the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine regarding the authenticity of all the documents provided.
When all procedures were completed, SkyUp received a document certifying compliance with the requirements of the UK Part-TCO Regulations.
From now on, SkyUp can fly to the UK without additional permits.
Earlier this year SkyUp also received the TCO of Switzerland, after which the airline performed a number of flights to this country under the terms of a wet-lease.
The head of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, withdrew her candidacy for the election of prime minister, so her rival Rishi Sunak automatically becomes the new head of the Conservative Party and, accordingly, the prime minister of Great Britain, the leadership of the British Conservative Party reported on Monday.
“Rishi Sunak has been chosen as the new leader of the Conservative Party,” said Sir Graham Brady, head of the House of Commons “1922 committee” that was in charge of the process of choosing a new leader.
Mordaunt, for her part, tweeted that she had withdrawn her candidacy for the prime ministerial election and said that thus “we have chosen our new prime minister”, noting that she fully supports Sunak.
Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton to a doctor and pharmacist on May 12, 1980. He graduated from the University of Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics, and later received an MBA from Stanford University. There, the politician met his future wife Akshata Murthy, the daughter of the co-founder of the Indian multinational IT company Infosys, billionaire Narayana Murthy. Sunak managed to work in one of the largest investment banks in the world Goldman Sachs Group and hedge fund The Children’s Investment Fund Management.
In 2015, Sunak won the parliamentary elections in the Richmond constituency in West Yorkshire. He first entered the government under Theresa May in 2018, receiving the position of Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Sunak voted three times for May’s EU Brexit deal, but it was rejected in 2019, largely leading to her resignation and the rise to power of Boris Johnson.
After May’s resignation, Sunak supported Johnson as the candidate for leader of the Conservative Party. Johnson came to power in 2019 and appointed Sunak to the post of deputy head of the Treasury, but already in 2020 he went on a promotion and headed the Treasury, replacing Sajid Javid in this post.
On July 5, 2022, Sunak became the second minister after Javid to resign in connection with the Johnson scandals. Three days later, Sunak announced his candidacy for the post of the new leader of the Tories and, accordingly, the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The former head of the Ministry of Finance gained the majority of votes in all rounds of the election of the head of the Conservative Party, but in the final round he lost to former Foreign Minister Liz Truss. Truss took office as prime minister, but was able to hold it for only 45 days, after which she was forced to resign.
On Friday, the UK announced its decision to expand sanctions against Russia in the field of IT technologies, audit services, and engineering.
The government’s message notes that, in particular, in the IT sector, consulting services for the Russian Federation will now be prohibited. It is also prohibited “to provide legal services for transactions in a number of commercial areas.” Restrictive measures apply to the advertising sector, auditing.
“The UK also bans the export to Russia of approximately 700 items of goods that are important for Russian industry and technology development,” the statement said.
It also notes that the British authorities have decided to summon Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin to the British Foreign Office.
