MoD accused of ‘go-slow’ with half of £900m Ukraine fund unused

More than half of a £900m military fund for Ukraine run by the British Ministry of Defence has not been used because of bureaucratic delays in handing out contracts.

It was designed to be “a flexible low-bureaucracy fund” administered by the MoD on behalf of an executive panel comprising the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania.

The defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has been active in seeking to sign up more countries but the fund’s record in distributing the cash risks deterring would-be donors.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been outspoken in recent weeks about the impact on the frontline of a slowdown in the provision of western weapons.

Russia has steadily been making advances, and a lack of Ukrainian air defence has been pinpointed as a major problem for Kyiv.

Equipment provided so far includes more than 100 uncrewed aerial systems and 80 heavy-duty plant vehicles to destroy Russian non-explosive obstacles and help build defensive positions and air defence radars.