UK pledges more arms to Ukraine amid international revulsion over station attack

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged another 100 million pounds ($130 million) in high-grade military equipment to Ukraine, saying Britain wants to help Ukraine defend itself, as the death toll in a strike on a train station in eastern Ukraine rises to at least 50.

Speaking at a news conference with Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Johnson says the UK will give Ukraine’s military more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, another 800 anti-tank missiles, and precision munitions capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target.

He also promised more helmets, night vision and body armor. The items were in addition to some 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment from the UK that had already been promised.

Johnson says both the UK and Germany shared the “revulsion at the brutality being unleashed, including the unconscionable bombing of refugees fleeing their homes,’’ adding that the train station attack “shows the depths to which Putin’s vaunted army has sunk.’’

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian calls the attack a crime against humanity, and says the Hague-based International Criminal Court should open an investigation.

“They hit a station where there are refugees, civilians and so this can be seen as a crime against humanity,” he tells France 5 television.

“These crimes cannot remain unpunished. Experts must go there quickly and document urgently to provide proof of crimes against humanity,” he says.

In the US, President Joe Biden on Friday thanks Slovakia for giving Ukraine a Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft air defense system, adding the United States will reposition a Patriot missile system to replace it.

“The United States has placed the highest priority on delivering critical military capabilities to Ukraine so it can defend itself against Russian aggression,” he says.