The UK has become the first country to send long-range missiles to Ukraine in an escalation of western support for Kyiv.
Storm Shadow cruise missiles have a typical range of around 155 miles, enabling Ukraine to strike deep behind the front lines and disrupt Russian supply lines before a spring counter-offensive.
Rishi Sunak promised the missiles during a visit by President Zelensky to the UK in February. He reiterated his pledge at the Munich security conference later that month, saying that Kyiv needed protection from “Russian bombs and Iranian drones”.
Ukraine intends to use the air-to-surface missiles to hit Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, The Times revealed this year.
The donation of long-range missiles to Ukraine is likely to provoke a furious reaction from the Kremlin. Russian state TV presenters previously called for London to be “turned to dust” if Storm Shadow missiles were used in the conflict.
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