LONDON, May 3 — Britain will donate 13 armoured vehicles to help evacuate civilians from besieged areas in the east of Ukraine, the government said today.

"This latest donation of armoured vehicles will help protect innocent Ukrainians attempting to flee Russian shelling and support Ukrainian officials carrying out vital work,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

Britain said the steel-plated vehicles, which can resist high velocity bullets, anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices, would also be used to transport officials to temporary command posts and to help workers rebuilding railway lines.

The vehicles were being donated from a foreign office fleet in response to a request from the Ukrainian government and would start arriving within days, the statement said. — Reuters