In a significant boost to Ukraine's ability to strike deep into Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, the UK is supplying its air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said today. The missiles have an effective range of approximately 150 miles, making Russian positions in Crimea vulnerable:
"The missiles give Ukraine capacity to strike well behind the front lines, including in Russia-occupied Crimea. U.K. media reported that Ukraine has pledged not to use the missiles to attack Russia itself.
Wallace said the missiles would be used to push back Russian forces in 'Ukrainian sovereign territory.' He said U.K. support for Ukraine is 'responsible, calibrated, coordinated and agile.'
'We simply will not stand back while Russia kills civilians,' Wallace said.
He said U.K. officials would not comment publicly on whether Britain had placed any limitations on the missiles’ use." (our emphasis)
The U.S. has declined to provide Ukraine with longer range rocket artillery, such as the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) which have a range of up to 190 miles, despite pledges from Ukraine that it would not be used to strike targets within Russia.
In an interview today with the BBC, Ukrainian President Zelensky said the counteroffensive against the Russian invaders needed more time to incorporate the military equipment and munitions from the West, which have been arriving piecemeal:
"Speaking at his headquarters in Kyiv, President Zelensky described combat brigades, some of which were trained by Nato countries, as being 'ready' but said the army still needed 'some things', including armoured vehicles that were 'arriving in batches'.
'With [what we already have] we can go forward, and, I think, be successful,' he said in an interview for public service broadcasters who are members of Eurovision News, like the BBC. 'But we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.'" (our emphasis)
With Russian forces in disarray and fleeing the battlefield, Ukraine can afford to be patient while it collects the weapons it needs ideally to push Russia back to its borders.
(photo: Fusilage-mounted Storm Shadow missiles on RAF Tornado fighter-bomber. G.H. Lee / MBDA)
