The UK has confirmed it is supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles it requested for its fight against invading Russian forces.
Ukraine has long been calling for such weapons, but the US and other countries have been unwilling to supply them in case strikes inside Russia lead to escalation.
The announcement was made in the House of Commons by UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace. The decision follows repeated pleas from Ukraine for more weapons from the West.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov insisted longer-range missiles would not be used to attack targets within Russia itself.
“If we could strike at a distance of up to 300 kilometres, the Russian army wouldn’t be able to provide defence and will have to lose.
“Ukraine is ready to provide any guarantees that your weapons will not be involved in attacks on the Russian territory,” he told an EU meeting.
In response to reports the deal had been done, Moscow said the move would require an “adequate response from our military.”
The weapons will give Ukraine new capabilities as it prepares a counter-offensive against Russia.
They are fired from aircraft, so the longer range means Ukrainian pilots will be able to stay further from the frontlines.
Once launched, the Storm Shadow drops to low altitude to avoid detection by enemy radar, before latching onto its target with an infra-red seeker.
It would be recalled that in February, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was prepared to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, and the British government opened a bidding process for their procurement.
“Together we must help Ukraine to shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones, that’s why the United Kingdom will be the first country to give Ukraine longer-range weapons,” Sunak said.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would take an ‘appropriate’ military response to any British-supplied Storm Shadow weapons used by Ukrainian forces.
The Storm Shadow missile has been operated by both British and French air forces and has been used previously in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya.
The British-supplied missiles can only be fired by aircraft, but French missiles can be fired from ships and submarines.
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