UK donating undersea minehunter drones to help Ukraine clear coastline

It comes as Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to increase by 137,000 troops from next year

Dozens of Ukrainian personnel will be taught to use the autonomous minehunting vehicles by the Royal Navy (Ministry of Defence )

The UK has donated underwater drones to Ukraine to help clear coastline mines.

Six autonomous minehunting vehicles will be sent to the country to help detect Russian mines in the waters off its coast. Three of these will be provided from UK stocks, with a further three to be purchased from industry.

The lightweight autonomous vehicle is designed for use in shallow coastal environments, operating effectively at depths of up to 100m to detect, locate and identify mines using an array of sensors so the Ukrainian Navy can destroy them.