The UK has supplied Kyiv with several Storm Shadow cruise missiles and in doing so has provided Ukraine with a long-range strike capability. This is reported by CNN with reference to several high-ranking Western officials.
The Storm Shadow is a precision cruise missile jointly developed by the UK and France. It has a range of more than 250 km. This is slightly less than the range of the US Army tactical surface-to-surface missile systems or ATACMS, which Ukraine has long requested.
“Storm Shadow has enough range to strike deep into Russian-held territory,” notes CNN. According to the interlocutor of the publication, the government of Ukraine assured the UK that these missiles would be used to hit targets only on the sovereign territory of Ukraine, and not on the territory of Russia. The illegally annexed sovereign territory of Ukraine is, in particular, Crimea.
Currently, the maximum range of weapons provided to Ukraine by Washington is about 49 miles.
Kyiv has not yet confirmed the receipt of Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already said that the supply of long-range missiles by the UK to Ukraine will require an adequate response from the Russian military.