Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time, just hours after Putin’s nuclear war warning.
Parts of a missile were found in the village of Marine, Kursk, on Wednesday.
British Storm Shadow missiles have a range of 150 miles, meaning that Ukraine could now strike targets inside Russia.
Ukraine has previously used the missiles inside its own territory, however, this is the first time that Kyiv has been given permission to strike targets inside Russia.
Ukraine fires UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile into Russia for FIRST TIME just 24 hours after Putin nuclear war warning
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The speedy missiles fly low in order to evade air defence, and they are fitted with a blast/penetrator warhead, meaning they can penetrate in extreme conditions and can attack buried targets.
Some reports claimed that the missiles had also targeted Putin’s £1 billion Crimean Bridge but were downed.
Russian media reported that 12 missiles were launched by a Ukrainian aircraft in the Kursk region, which they identified to be Storm Shadows.
It comes just days after US President Joe Biden gave his approval for US-supplied weapons to be blasted into Russian territory.
Sir Keir Starmer said at the G20 summit that the UK knew that it needed to “double down” on its support for Kyiv
PA
On Tuesday, Kyiv launched six Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) towards the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine to the north.
Russia’s defence ministry said that five missiles had been shot down and one had caused damage after its fragments caused a fire at a military facility.
Sir Keir Starmer said at the G20 summit that the UK knew that it needed to “double down” on its support for Kyiv.
“I’ve been really clear for a long time now, we need to double down. We need to make sure Ukraine has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war,” the prime minister said.
However, following Biden’s announcement, Russia accused the West of adding “fuel to the fire”.
“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue to add fuel to the fire and to further inflame tensions around this conflict,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
“This decision is reckless, dangerous, aimed at a qualitative change, a qualitative increase in the level of involvement of the United States.”
In a dire warning issued on Tuesday, Moscow said it “reserved the right” to use nuclear weapons in the event of “aggression” against Russia or Belarus with conventional weapons if it creates a “critical threat to their sovereignty”.
The Russian President also approved changes to the nation’s nuclear doctrine, setting out new conditions under which its arsenal could be used.
The update was proposed back in September, and was approved on the 1,000th day of the conflict.
More to follow…