The United Kingdom will become the first country to supply long-range missiles to Ukraine in response to “continued aggression” from Russia, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace announced on Thursday.
“The UK is giving Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine,” the minister told parliament. These cruise missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers, more than any other weapons supplied to kyiv by Western countries.
“The donation of these weapons systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend itself against Russia’s continued brutality,” Ben Wallace added. These missiles “will allow Ukraine to repel Russian forces based on the sovereign territory of Ukraine”.
With their long range, these missiles have the ability to reach areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces.
The Storm Shadow missile, which is being jointly developed by the UK and France, is launched from the air. It is called SCALP by the French army.
Promised by the United States in early February, long-range GLSDB rockets were also provided, according to Russian claims not denied by kyiv. Ukraine considers these munitions, with a range of up to 150 km, crucial to launch its next counter-offensive and threaten Russian positions far behind the front lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured in an interview broadcast Thursday by the BBC that his army still needed time to prepare for this much-awaited counter-offensive intended to repel Russian forces.
“With (what we have) we can move forward and be successful. But we would lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. So we have to wait. We still need a little extra time,” Zelensky said.
An early supporter of Ukraine, the UK has so far pledged £4.6bn (C$7.8bn) in military aid to Ukraine .
In 2022, London delivered 2.3 billion pounds (CA$3.9 billion) of military aid to Kyiv and the government has promised to maintain this level of aid this year, the second only to the United States.
The United Kingdom notably delivered anti-tank missiles, artillery guns, air defense systems, armored combat vehicles.
It also supplied British Challenger tanks to Ukraine and trained Ukrainian soldiers to operate them.