British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace approved Transfer of long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to the Ukrainian army. He said this in his speech to members of the British Parliament’s House of Commons.
Wallace described the move as “a measured and proportionate response to Russia’s escalation.”
According to him, the use of missiles with a range of 250-300 km (this corresponds to the export characteristics of Storm Shadow, the maximum radius of destruction of weapons is 560 km) “will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces from the territory of the sovereign territory of Ukraine. ” Wallace did not discuss the details of the procurement of such a missile. It also confirmed that all the promised Challenger 2 tanks have entered service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Shortly before the announcement, CNN reported that London had already delivered these missiles to Kiev, citing senior Western officials. Allegedly, Storm Shadow traveled to Ukraine after the country’s leadership assured their British counterparts that they would not use weapons to hit targets in Russia.
One CNN source believes such a missile “really changes the rules of the game” and expands Kiev’s military capabilities.
In response to news about the supply of Storm Shadow, the Kremlin said that the RF Armed Forces will respond.
“This will require an adequate response from our military, which will naturally make appropriate decisions against this background,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency.
Military expert Alexei Leonkov in an interview with Izvestia discretion A threat to the supply of long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine. They pose a “serious threat,” he said.
“Ukraine’s promise to apply it only to areas it considers to be its own does not stand up to scrutiny. <…> The missile is programmed to fly to the target it will attack. The specialist explained that it works on the principle of “fire and forget”.
Leonkov recalled that previously Storm Shadow was used to attack Damascus on April 14, 2018, but was shot down by the Buk anti-aircraft missile system. In addition, the Tor air defense system can be used against the missile. The expert believes that by transferring these weapons to Ukraine, Britain became a direct participant in the military conflict on the Ukrainian side.
At the end of April, the British Ministry of Defense reported that there were potential suppliers of “land, sea or air-based, payload missiles with a range of 100-300 km”. [включает массу боевой части] From 20 kg to 490 kg” applications can be made to the Office.
It was noted that experts will primarily choose weapons that are difficult to prevent, capable of withstanding air defense forces and the effects of electronic warfare.
As TASS wrote, it was planned to pay suppliers to Ukraine from the International Assistance Fund for the subsequent transfer of missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The application deadline is May 4.
On February 8, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed London’s intention to hand over “longer range weapons” to the Ukrainian military during a visit to Kiev.
British military observers then suggested that we could talk about Harpoon anti-ship missiles or Storm Shadow aircraft missiles with a range of up to 240 km.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a message to the Bundestag, said that if Kiev gets long-range missiles, Russia must remove the threat from its borders.
“One thing should be clear to everyone: the longer range Western systems come to Ukraine, the more we will have to push the threat away from our borders. It is natural,” he said.