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Britain is to send to Ukraine armoured vehicles that can fire missiles against invading Russian aircraft, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday.
Ukrainian forces have been using UK-donated Starstreak high and low-velocity missiles against Russian forces for more than three weeks, Mr Wallace told Parliament.
"We shall be gifting a small number of armoured vehicles fitted with launchers for those anti-air missiles," he said.
"These Stormer vehicles will give Ukraine forces enhanced short-range anti-air capabilities both day and night."
Fears of escalating the conflict mean that Nato members including Britain are limited in what military hardware they can provide to Ukraine.
Mr Wallace said Britain's assessment was that about "15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive. Over 2,000 armoured vehicles have been destroyed or captured".
More than a quarter of the 120 battalion tactical groups Russia had committed to invading Ukraine "have been rendered not combat-effective", he said.
Mr Wallace said Britain's military contribution so far included 5,000 anti-tank missiles, five air defence systems with more than 100 missiles, and 4.5 tonnes of plastic explosives.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently said Britain would send 120 armoured vehicles to Ukraine, as well as anti-ship missiles.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that Ukraine could win the war against Russia if it had the "right equipment".
The conflict has brought an outpouring of support from western nations with many weapons sent to Ukraine to help beat back the Russian invaders.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
