Ukraine used British long-range Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, media reports

Ukraine has used British long-range Storm Shadow missiles against Russian territory for the first time after obtaining permission from London, British media reported on Wednesday, a day after a similar launch of US ATACMS missiles.

kyiv had long demanded permission to use these weapons, but the West feared Moscow's reaction, which presented this as a red line.

Several Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250 km, were launched at at least one Russian military target, the Financial Times reported, citing three anonymous sources including a Western official briefed on the strike.

The United Kingdom has given the green light to the use of these missiles against Russian territory in response to the deployment of North Korean troops to help the Russian army, according to the daily The Guardian.

Neither kyiv nor London have yet confirmed this information.

On Tuesday, Ukraine used for the first time American ATACMS missiles, with a range of 300 km, against a military installation in the Russian region of Bryansk.

Several Western countries supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine but did not authorize their use on Russian territory.

American President Joe Biden, who will hand over in January to a Donald Trump much less inclined to help Ukraine financially, has finally given his green light for their use in Russia, Washington announced on Sunday.

– Mines –

Russia has issued a series of warnings to Ukraine and the West in recent days, in response to the green light given by the United States to kyiv to strike Russian soil with the long-range missiles it has received.

The Joe Biden administration also announced on Wednesday its intention to supply Ukraine with antipersonnel mines, a type of weapon widely criticized for the number of civilian casualties it causes, including long after the end of conflicts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, assured that these mines were “very important” to stop the advance of Moscow's soldiers.

The Russian army continues to advance in the East and claimed on Wednesday the capture of a new town near the city of Kourakhové.

According to Washington, the mines supplied to Ukraine will be “non-persistent”, that is, equipped with a self-destruction or self-deactivation device.

An anti-mine organization, the ICBL, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, condemned a “disastrous decision by the United States” and called on Ukraine to refuse to use this type of weapon.

A resident cycles past a destroyed restaurant in the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, on November 19, 2024 © AFP – Florent VERGNES

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the United States of being “fully committed to prolonging the war in Ukraine.”

Russia has also issued nuclear warnings again in recent days, while accusing the West of “wanting escalation.”

According to its new doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, made official on Tuesday, Russia can now use them in the event of a “massive” attack by a non-nuclear country but supported by a nuclear power, a clear reference to Ukraine and the United States.

This change “de facto excludes the possibility of defeating the Russian armed forces on the battlefield,” Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin stressed on Wednesday, suggesting that Russia would resort to the atomic bomb rather than risk defeat in a conventional war.

Washington, Paris, London and the European Union have denounced an “irresponsible” attitude, while kyiv has urged its allies “not to give in to fear.”

The US Embassy in kyiv, November 20, 2024 © AFP – Tanya DZAFAROWA

Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Brazil, called for “gathering more voices committed to peace in order to pave the way for a political solution” to the conflict, after meeting his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

A crucial partner of Moscow, China is accused of participating in the Russian military effort.

Meanwhile, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico urged “all parties involved to respect their international commitments and prioritize dialogue and the search for peace,” as well as to “avoid actions that lead to an arms race,” according to a joint statement.

– Embassies closed –

Ukraine expressed its annoyance on Wednesday at the temporary closure of Western embassies that feared Russian bombing, stressing that the threat had been “daily” since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

At least five Western embassies, those of the United States, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Greece, announced that they would temporarily close for the day on Wednesday.

This follows a warning from the US embassy, ​​which warned of a “possible significant airstrike” on Ukraine.

Ukrainian diplomacy denied that the risk was higher on Wednesday, adding that the threat of strikes was “a daily reality for Ukrainians”.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

For Volodymyr Zelensky, the spread of this type of information only “helps Russia”. He too said that the threat remained the same: Russia was “just as crazy” today as it was on the first day of the invasion.

Drone and missile strikes, sometimes massive, have been almost daily in kyiv for weeks and with great regularity since the outbreak of the conflict almost three years ago.

Anti-aircraft alerts have also sounded several times in the capital during the night and during the day and drones have been shot down. No casualties were reported.

A Russian strike on a village in eastern Ukraine, near Kramatorsk, on Wednesday killed an 11-year-old boy and injured his sister and grandfather, according to the regional prosecutor's office.

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