Albanese government pledges $95m to Ukraine, new sanctions on Russian ‘ghost fleet’

The Albanese government will provide a further $95m in military support for Ukraine and impose new sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” as marathon talks in Russia fail to reach a peace deal.

The package, announced on Wednesday, is the first tranche of military hardware for Ukraine since October 2024.

It includes $43m in tactical air defence radars, munitions, and combat engineering equipment, as well as $50m for NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), marking the first time Australia has contributed to the program.

The initiative involves NATO co-ordinating purchase of critical defence equipment from the United States.

So far this year, Canada, Germany, and Baltic and Nordic states have announced about $2.2bn in funding through the program.

New Zealand is expected to also announce a commitment to the project overnight.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the commitments would “make a tangible difference in Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion”.

“We are proud to be contributing to PURL, standing in solidarity with our partners – in NATO and the Indo-Pacific – to see a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”

To date, Australia has provided more than $1.7bn in aid to Ukraine, including more than $1.5bn in military assistance, as well as training of Ukrainian military personnel in the United Kingdom under Operation Kudu, and the recent deployment of the E-7A Wedgetail supporting the flow of humanitarian and military assistance.

The federal government will also provide $2m to the Drone Capability Coalition, a multinational initiative providing drones and drone parts to Ukraine.

The final tranche of 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks will also be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

It comes amid reports Australia was considering a Ukrainian request for Tiger helicopters, with the Australian Defence Force is in the process of retiring.

The government faced pushback from the Ukrainian community in 2023 when it grounded and dismantled its Taipan fleet following a fatal crash.

45 ‘Shadow Fleet’ vessels sanctioned

The Albanese government will also seek to impose sanctions on a further 45 “shadow fleet” vessels.

The so-called shadow fleet are vessels which are allegedly flown under a different flag and sometimes perform ship-to-ship transfers at sea to circumvent sanctions.

Often poorly maintained and past their operational lifespan, the vessels also provide a risk of oil spills and maritime accidents, and to undersea cables.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the sanctions complemented those of international partners’ “as part of a co-ordinated effort to starve Russia’s oil revenues and limit its ability to finance its invasion”.

“As a result of actions we have taken, direct Australian imports of Russian energy products have fallen from $80m before Russia’s invasion to zero,” she said.

It comes after reports at least 25 sanctioned vessels remained in the supply chains of Australian companies.

Russia and the United States failed to reach a compromise on a possible peace deal in Ukraine on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, after a five-hour Kremlin meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s top envoy, Steve Witkoff.