Richard Branson pledges to help rebuild Ukraine's shattered aerospace industry

Sir Richard Branson has vowed to help rebuild Ukraine’s battle-stricken aerospace industry as part of postwar reconstruction efforts.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the billionaire entrepreneur said he was working with President Volodymyr Zelensky to bring together business chiefs and Western governments for the project “when the time is right”.

The Virgin Group founder also accused “extremist forces” in the US of curtailing support for Ukraine while pushing for peace on Vladimir Putin’s terms.

He urged Western leaders to “double down” on their military backing for Kyiv as Russia makes gains along almost 600 miles of front line.

Sir Richard visited the Hostomel Airport, a major freight terminal on the outskirts of Kyiv, which once hosted the world’s largest cargo plane, in the early months of the war.

On the first day of the invasion, Russian helicopters dropped elite troops at the airport in the first major battle of the invasion.

Its vast 3,500-metre runway, which was capable of supporting the largest military transport planes, was vital in Moscow’s failed plan to establish an airbridge to support its assault on the Ukrainian capital.

During the initial battle, the Antonov An-225, the longest and heaviest jet aircraft ever built and a symbol of Kyiv’s global standing, was destroyed in the fighting.

Now on the two-year anniversary of the start of the brutal conflict, Sir Richard said: “I’m keen to work with the President … to understand what business leaders, in partnership with civil society and governments, can do to support the rebuilding of Ukraine’s aerospace industry when the time is right.”

The symbolic gesture could one day see Virgin Atlantic, the airline part-owned by the businessman, ferrying passengers between London and Kyiv.

Since the outbreak of the war, Sir Richard has signed up as an ambassador to Mr Zelensky’s United24 fundraiser, helping bring in money for construction of school and bomb shelters so pupils can continue their education.

For him, the international business community will be central to Ukraine’s post-war prosperity and rebuild its wrecked towns and city.

But with fighting still raging and Russia having the upper hand, Sir Richard said business leaders must do more to clamp down on Putin’s sources of revenue.

“Business must also divest from Russia and its interests – too many companies come to profit from doing business with or in Russia, which fuels Putin’s war machine through the taxes they pay,” he said.

In recent weeks, Russia has managed to secure its first battlefield victory in months, with the capture of the eastern industrial town of Avdiivka, and is making creeping gains in the south and north-east of the war-torn nation.

Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region this week told The Sunday Telegraph they couldn’t fire their artillery cannons at advancing Russians because of ammunition shortages, fuelled by political infighting in Washington.

Republican politicians loyal to former president Donald Trump have refused to back a $60billion military aid package put forward by Joe Biden.

No stranger to tackling politicians head-on, Sir Richard said: “Once again, extremist forces in Congress are turning Ukraine into a political football. All of this is frustrating.

“Reducing critical military support while gradually pushing for a dictated peace on Russia’s terms would not only be an unforgivable betrayal of Ukraine, it would also legitimise Putin’s decision to invade and encourage further aggressions against Russia’s neighbours in the future.”

He said it was the US and UK who had persuaded Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees to ensure Russia respected the post-Soviet border pact in the early Nineties.

“How can the West ever be trusted again if it cannot even honour that pledge?” Sir Richard asked.

“No question: Congress must act now and deliver the aid Ukraine so urgently needs,” he added.

“It cannot be said often enough: Ukraine’s troops are defending far more than their own sovereignty and national identity. Their struggle is ours. They are fighting and dying so the rest of us don’t have to. What’s at stake are values and principles many of us hold dear: freedom, the rule of law, universal human rights.

“This is why I encourage Ukraine’s allies to double down on their commitments, particularly to military aid.”