Now Ukraine fires British missiles at Russia for first time as UK ‘doubles down’ on assist for Kyiv | EUROtoday
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Ukraine has fired British long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the primary time, The Independent understands, the most recent signal of a change in stance from Western nations on involvement within the battle.
Images circulating on-line seem to indicate fragments of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia’s Kursk area – the border space into which Ukrainian forces staged a shock assault in August, taking a swathe of territory they nonetheless maintain.
Approval for the usage of the weapons is believed to have been given in response to the deployment of greater than 10,000 North Korean troops in Kursk alongside Russian troops, in what UK and US officers have warned is a serious escalation of the battle.
On the Telegram messaging app, pro-war Russian accounts posted video they claimed to incorporate the sound of missiles hanging within the Kursk area. At least 14 enormous explosions will be heard, most preceded by the sharp whistle of what seems like an incoming missile. The footage, shot in a residential space, confirmed black smoke rising within the distance.
The pro-Russian Two Majors Telegram channel mentioned Ukraine had fired as much as 12 Storm Shadows into the Kursk area, and carried photos of missile fragments mentioned to have come from Storm Shadows.
Kyiv has lengthy lobbied for permission to make use of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, because it seeks a rise in Western navy assist to counteract Vladimir Putin’s forces advancing on a number of fronts throughout Ukraine. And strain has mounted with the US presidential election victory of Donald Trump, with fears he could lower off navy and monetary assist to Ukraine when he takes workplace in January.
Western nations resisted these lobbying efforts till the previous few days, when US president Joe Biden gave Kyiv the inexperienced gentle to make use of American-made ATACMS missiles past the Russian border. However, in September, Sir Keir Starmer made a shock journey to the White House the place the potential use of the Storm Shadow missiles was mentioned.
Addressing the Commons after some extent of order, defence secretary John Healey didn’t deny that the missiles had been used, saying he couldn’t “go into any further operational details”.
But he famous: “We as a nation and government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine” and that “Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself”.
It got here simply moments after Mr Healey had defined to MPs why he was scrapping navy tools in a collection of cuts to avoid wasting £500m from the defence finances, leaving questions on how ready the UK navy is for battle.
Among the objects being lower are Britain’s final two amphibious assault craft, HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion; 14 Chinook helicopters; 17 Puma helicopters; the Watchkeeper MK1 drones; and the frigate HMS Northumberland.
With the continued strategic defence assessment he warned that “this will not be the last time I will need to make difficult decisions”.
The Tories claimed that the cuts had been as a result of Labour had refused to extend defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP and demanded that discarded tools must be supplied to Ukraine.
Mr Healey additionally informed MPs he had spoken within the final 24 hours to his Ukrainian counterpart.
Defence minister Rustem Umerov wouldn’t verify studies that his nation had used UK-made long-range missiles at a press convention however mentioned Ukraine is “using all the means to defend our country”.
“We are not going [into] detail but we are just saying that we are capable and able to respond,” he added.
On Tuesday, the primary US-supplied missile was fired, reportedly hitting an arms depot within the Bryansk area round 80 miles (130km) deep inside Russia. Moscow responded furiously, accusing the West of escalating the battle.
In an obvious response, President Putin signed a long-planned revision to the nation’s nuclear doctrine.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian international minister, mentioned that long-range missiles to be fired into Russian territory “operated by American military experts” could be taken as a “new phase of the Western war against Russia and will react accordingly”, he mentioned.
In an interview revealed on Wednesday, Russian international intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin mentioned that Moscow would retaliate towards Nato nations that facilitate long-range Ukrainian missile strikes.
The Biden administration may even enable Ukraine to make use of American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to assist it gradual Russia’s battlefield progress within the battle, the US defence secretary mentioned on Wednesday, marking Washington’s second main coverage shift in days. Lloyd Austin mentioned the change follows shifting techniques by the Russian navy. Russian floor troops are main the motion on the battlefield, moderately than forces in armoured carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort”, Mr Austin mentioned throughout a visit to Laos.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kyiv closed briefly on Wednesday, citing fears of a “significant air attack” – with Russia having stepped up its aerial assault on Ukrainian cities in current days. The US Department of State Consular Affairs mentioned: “The US embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”
The Italian and Greek embassies adopted go well with however the British, French, and German embassies remained open. UK science secretary Peter Kyle mentioned Britain was monitoring the state of affairs and “will do everything we can to keep British citizens safe”.
Later, Ukraine’s prime spy company claimed Russia was behind a pretend warning about an imminent main Russian airstrike, unfold on-line as a part of what it described as psychological warfare.
“This message is a fake, it contains grammatical errors typical of Russian information and psychological operations,” mentioned Kyiv’s Main Directorate of Intelligence.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-storm-shadow-russia-kyiv-atacms-b2650641.html