Australia will send some of its Bushmaster armoured vehicles to Ukraine following a request from the war-torn nation’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in his address to Parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday morning that some of the Australian-made four-wheel-drive armoured vehicles would be sent over to Ukraine, along with a further $25 million worth of military support announced on Thursday.
“We are not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, ammunitions, humanitarian aid, all of this, our body armour, all of these things,” he said.
“We will send our armoured vehicles, our Bushmasters, as well, and we will fly them over there in our C-17s to make sure they can be there to support.”
Defence officials separately told a Senate estimates hearing there had been discussions throughout the night about how the Bushmasters could be supplied after Mr Zelensky specifically asked for them in his address to Parliament on Thursday evening.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said this included considering whether there were any in place in countries geographically closer to Ukraine which could be moved to the war zone faster than shipping them from Australia.
