By Russia Desk
Britain was the first of its Western allies to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles. On this subject informed CNN, citing several senior Western officials.
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French long-range air-to-surface cruise missile. The range of the missile is more than 250 km, which is slightly less than the American ATACMS systems, which Ukraine has long requested, writes CNN.
According to missile manufacturer MBDA Missile Systems, the Storm Shadow is capable of launching “day or night in any weather” and is equipped with an advanced navigation system to ensure hit accuracy.
The maximum range of weapons supplied by the United States to Ukraine is about 80 km, the TV channel notes.
“It is essential that Storm Shadow has sufficient range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine,” the publication said.
According to one of CNN’s sources, the UK has received assurances from Ukrainian authorities that the Storm Shadow will only be used “on the sovereign territory of Ukraine” and not for strikes against Russia. At the same time, the channel points out that British officials have publicly called Crimea a sovereign territory of Ukraine on several occasions.
Russia has a “very negative” attitude towards supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine, said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president.
“This will require an adequate response from our military, which, naturally, from a military point of view, will take the appropriate decisions in this context,” the Kremlin spokesman said (quoted by CASS).
Ukraine received about 600 types of weapons for the counteroffensive
Ukraine has received about 600 types of weapons and ammunition from the United States and other Western allies. This was stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by the representative of the command of the American armed forces in Europe and Africa, Martin O’Donnell.
“It’s more than any army in the world, especially an army at war,” O’Donnell said.
According to him, this number includes Abrams and Leopard tanks, as well as Patriot systems, but not all of these weapons have yet been launched. Representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dave Butler, in turn, noted that 50 countries are working to provide Ukrainians with air defense and security equipment.
“I think the equipment and ammunition, the Ukrainians will have enough to continue defending their country,” Butler said. He also expressed the opinion that “the Russians will be surprised when the Ukrainians set in motion what they have been working on for a few months.”
Ukraine’s impending counter-offensive has been discussed for several months. On May 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Western media that the Ukrainian Armed Forces needed more time to launch a counteroffensive, as the army was still waiting for supplies of missing military equipment. .
“With (what we already have) we can move on and I think we will succeed. But we will lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. So we have to wait. We still need a little more time,” said Zelenskyy, whose words son “BBC”.
What will happen if Kyiv receives long-range missiles, Russian media says here
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
Source: Britain delivered the first long-range missiles to Ukraine
