PUT UKRAINIAN FREEDOM BEFORE PROFITS FOR ARMS SALES

At the start of this year the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, issued an appeal for solidarity to the international trade union movement to call on governments to take decisive measures to protect Ukraine and speed up the provision of military aid.

In response to this appeal with the assistance of Labour MPs Clive Lewis and John McDonnell, we are calling for the provision of a significant package of military aid to Ukraine which is readily available and would otherwise be sold off by the MOD.  This is set out in an Early Day Motion ( tanks-vehicles-and-aircraft-for-ukraine).

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP UKRAINE WIN:

  • Contact your Member of Parliament – you can find via the link here: FindYourMP
  • Ask them to sign the Early Day Motion 501 tabled on 12 March 2024
  • Ask your MP to contact Grant Shapps Secretary of State for Defence and request all the equipment listed be sent to Ukraine asap.

We need a radical break from providing just enough aid to resist Russia, to enough to win the war

Christopher Ford, Secretary Ukraine Solidarity Campaign

‘Our positions are 100 meters away from the enemy. We are being bombarded by everything: cluster bombs, phosphorus, artillery. The ratio of our fire to that of the enemy is approximately 1 to 50. We need everything we can.’  

These words from a Ukrainian female soldier fighting on the frontlines against Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast show the desperate situation facing the Ukrainian armed forces two years into Russia’s’ full-scale invasion – and the urgent need for the UK to meet its promises to Ukraine.

The clock is also ticking internationally, the elections to the EU Parliament and USA President could see increased far-right influence and a revanchist Trump presidency.  Both forces intent on further undermining aid to Ukraine, the fall of the city of Avdiivka evidence of what this will mean.

The Kremlin is seeking to exploit this situation to weaken belief in continued international support, whilst imperiously reiterating its objectives to expand its occupation of Ukraine.

Ukraine is at a crossroads and with it the fate of this key battle for democracy with the new authoritarianism. 

Destroyed city of Avdiivka, occupied by Russia due to obstruction of wqestern aid to Ukraine .

There is significant package of military aid available in the arsenal of the UK which if released could potentially have a major impact in ending the current malaise. These resources have been confirmed by parliamentary disclosures to questions raised by Clive Lewis MP and John McDonnell MP to the Secretary of State for Defence.

Their questions have revealed the extent to which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been disposing of military vehicles and aircraft, selling and auctioning off military hardware that could instead be donated to our allies in Ukraine.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it can now be revealed that the MoD has sold off over one-thousand military vehicles. The sell-off includes 74 Bulldog armoured personnel carriers, 134 CVRT combat reconnaissance vehicles, and 63 MAN Support Vehicles, 48 Pinzgauer Trucks, and an array of other trucks, logistics vehicles, trailers, transporters, and quad bikes, as well as 46 fixed-wing aircraft, including attack aircraft and various transport planes.

All military equipment that could be donated to fighting Russians on the frontline, rather than filling up sales and auctions lists.

MPs calling for greater military assistance for Ukraine has condemned the ways in which the MoD is selling off its hardware, rather than donate it to the war effort. Labour MP Clive Lewis in tabled a motion to Parliament last year, demanding all such equipment to be offered to Ukraine.  It was raised again by Nadia Whittome MP during a debate on Ukraine on the first anniversary of the invasion.  But rather than take action on the issue, the government feigned ignorance.

One example revealed by Lewis and McDonnell is the selling-off of FV107 Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, a battle-hardened light tank used in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Early on in the conflict, the UK promised to donate 23 Scimitar tanks to Ukraine, but so far has failed to send any to our allies. In contrast, 18 have already been sold off to undisclosed buyers via the Defence Equipment Sales Agency.

Campaigning groups such as the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign and many other volunteers, have been raising money to buy vehicles and drive them over 1000 km to Ukraine.  Whilst all along the  MoD sold 182 military land rovers similar to those we fundraise for and deliver to a war zone.

Of course, the UK has contributed large amounts of military aid since the start of the full-scale invasion. But it has never been enough.  But as the war continues, and right-wing forces in Europe and the US threaten to withdraw their support for Ukraine, there is so much more the UK could and should be doing.

Last January, the UK donated 14 challenger tanks – now, with the MoD planning to upgrade 148 of its 213 Challenger 2 tanks, will the remaining 63 be sold off or sent to protect soldiers on Ukraine’s front lines? Of the 83 Scimitar tanks still available after the MoD sale, will we see these donated to help Ukraine?

The UK has trained Ukrainian pilots, but what about sending planes? The Parliamentary disclosure shows that the UK is more than capable of donating Typhoon combat aircraft – with 30 currently on the register, of these 26 will leave service by March next year. And yet, the Secretary of State for Defence has confirmed there are no plans to donate fixed wing aircraft to Ukraine. Instead these Typhoons will be stripped of useable spare parts. Similarly, nine chinooks set to be retired from the UK armed forces could be donated to Ukraine – if not, why not?

The questions asked by Lewis and McDonnell reveal a worrying trend of the MoD and the UK Government choosing to sell off its military hardware rather than redeploy it to help the resistance in Ukraine fight Russian Imperia;lism. This reveals a self-limiting approach to the conflict that not only harms Ukrainian soldiers struggling on the frontlines, it endangers us all.

Back on the frontlines, and an officer known as Phoenix told me how “the availability of these types of weapons and equipment, both at the tactical and operational-strategic levels, will make it possible to have an advantage on the battlefield and, in the end, to win faster than without it, avoiding greater costs than we will have relying only on ourselves. And we must remember, that by doing so we are saving Europe from further Russian invasion.”

We now need a radical break from the practice of providing just enough aid to resist Russia, to providing enough to win the war and liberate their country as whole. That starts with donating our military hardware, not selling it off to the highest bidder.