Keir Starmer says vessel, which will arrive in about a week, will help defend bases on island after RAF Akrotiri was targeted by drones

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A Royal Navy destroyer is expected in Cyprus next week after Keir Starmer announced it would be sent to defend the country and British bases there after hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on Monday.

The prime minister said that HMS Dragon, currently in the Channel, would be deployed alongside two Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities, after a phone call to the country’s president, Nikos Christodoulides.