According to the British Defense Secretary, Storm Shadow missiles will enable Ukraine to repel Russian forces invading Ukrainian territory.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced in the London Parliament that the UK will supply long-range missiles to Ukraine. Wallace told representatives of the House of Representatives: In agreement with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Ministry of Defense has decided to deliver the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
As Wallace said, this type of missile is only suitable for carrying conventional charges, and is a precision tool that complements the defense capabilities provided by similar weapons already delivered to Ukraine, including the Himar and Harpoon missiles.
The British Defense Secretary’s announcement was met with outrage in Moscow. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Our position is very negative. An adequate response will be required from our military, which will make the necessary decisions from a military point of view regarding the issue,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian promise
According to the data provided by the manufacturer, the Storm Shadow missiles have a range of 250 kilometers. The Ukrainian government assured London that the missiles would only be used on Ukrainian territory. The British defense secretary also said that Storm Shadows could be installed on Soviet-era warplanes used by the Ukrainian Air Force.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak first mentioned in February that Britain was supplying long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military to help Ukraine protect its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones.
Last year, the British government provided Ukraine with military aid in the amount of 2.3 billion pounds (almost a thousand billion forints), and as part of this, three million units of military equipment – including one hundred Challenger 2 tanks, two hundred other armored vehicles, more than a dozen Thousands of anti-tank missiles and multiple launch rocket systems – committed to transferring them.