UK boosts support for Ukraine with 1,000 surface-to-air missiles

The ministry made the announcement on Wednesday, saying Britain was in the process of completing the delivery of the projectiles.

The consignments include launchers and missiles, it said, adding that the equipment was capable of shooting down Russian targets, including drones and cruise missiles, midair.

Also on Wednesday, the UK's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said London had also completed delivery of a further 12,000 extreme cold-weather sleeping kits to the Ukrainian armed forces, Reuters reported.

"Winter is approaching and that is an important challenge for both sides," Wallace said.

"So, we're determined...to give Ukrainian soldiers the best basic skills because we already know that the Russian military aren't doing that," he alleged, while observing the British military's training of Ukrainian forces in the southeastern English town of Lydd.

The West has been providing Ukraine with an exponentially increasing flow of billions of dollars worth of military equipment.

Russia, which has been waging a war against its southern neighbor since late February in support of Ukraine's Russian-speaking population, has, however, warned that arming the ex-Soviet republic in such a fashion would only prolong the warfare.

The West, including Britain, has, meanwhile, been upbeat about alleged Ukrainian advances towards the southern city of Kherson.

Also on Wednesday, Western media outlets reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had ordered his troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks near Kherson.

Russian media outlets are, however, yet to corroborate the development.