Ukraine has reportedly used British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian military targets for the first time. This follows Kyiv’s inaugural deployment of U.S.-supplied Atacms missiles on Russian soil earlier in the week, which was authorized by Joe Biden.
A Western official briefed on the incident stated that multiple Storm Shadow missiles targeted at least one Russian military site. On Wednesday, a Russian pro-war military blog shared images on Telegram purportedly showing fragments of a Storm Shadow missile, with identifying engravings. The blog claimed the remnants were found near Marino, a village in Russia’s Kursk region. Alexei Smirnov, the governor of Kursk, reported that Russian air defenses intercepted two Ukrainian missiles in the area.
Ukraine has been lobbying Western allies for months to supply long-range weapons, arguing they are crucial for targeting Russian positions as Kyiv struggles to maintain control over occupied territories in the Kursk region.
Biden’s approval of Atacms use comes just two months before President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to bring the conflict to a swift resolution, takes office. The Biden administration has been wary of escalating tensions further, especially in light of Russia’s announcement on Tuesday that it has adjusted its military doctrine to lower the threshold for deploying nuclear weapons.
The UK government, including Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence, and the Foreign Office, declined to comment on the Storm Shadow strikes, citing “operational reasons.” However, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, speaking before his departure for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, urged the international community to “double down” on its support for Ukraine. Starmer also highlighted the involvement of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces as a concerning escalation in the ongoing conflict.
