The British army is suffering from shortcomings and cuts after providing military assistance to Ukraine, The Times columnist Max Hastings reported on January 9.
“The reduction in the personnel of the army, most recently from 82 to 73 thousand people, was to be compensated by 30 thousand reservists. However, their set was terrible. The morale of the reservists and their credibility are low, not least due to the fact that most of their equipment was sent to Ukraine,” the journalist noted.
Hastings pointed out that the crisis in the British forces did not help resolve and the government’s one-time allowance of 24 billion pounds over the defense budget.
On January 8, Daily Mail columnist Sean Rayment pointed to an unexpected problem facing the British Army. So, almost a quarter of British soldiers are overweight or obese.
The journalist specified that almost 40,000 out of 145,000 soldiers faced such a problem. Because of this, according to Rayment, since 2010, more than 5,000 British military personnel have been suspended from service.
On December 24, The Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote that the UK government will increase the size of the defense budget against the backdrop of the Ukrainian conflict. According to analysts, the budget of the Ministry of Defense for 2024-2025 should increase by at least £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) – from £48.6 billion ($58.6 billion) to £50.1 billion ($60.4 billion). billion) annually.
In November, it was reported that the UK had provided £2.3bn worth of military aid to Ukraine in 2022. This year the country intends to allocate approximately the same funding.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to hold it was made against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region due to increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
