UK-made Storm Shadow missiles fired into Russia for the first time
Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Andrew Roth in Washington report on the use of Storm Shadow missiles
Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources.
The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict.
The Guardian earlier this week reported that the UK would soon approve Storm Shadow missiles for use inside Russia after the US president, Joe Biden, agreed to do the same for the similar American Atacms weapon.
It was not immediately clear what Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to target. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location with the Kursk region. One weapons expert, Trevor Ball, formerly of the US Army said the images circulating did show Storm Shadow fragments though he could verify if they were current or old pictures.
The strike came one day after Ukraine used US-supplied missiles to strike targets in the Bryansk region. Western officials have indicated that they’re specifically targeting the North Korean buildup in the region as well as infrastructure that may be used for a 50,000-strong offensive against a Ukrainian incursion into the region.
Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of US and UK-made missiles inside Russia’s borders would be tantamount to Nato entering into a direct conflict with Moscow.
Key events
US will allow Ukraine to use US antipersonnel land mines against Russian forces
The Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use US-supplied antipersonnel landmines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war, the US defence secretary said on Wednesday, marking Washington’s second major policy shift in days after it decided to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with longer-range US-made missiles.
The US and some other western embassies in Kyiv stayed closed on Wednesday after a threat of a major Russian aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital.
US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the change in Washington’s policy on antipersonnel landmines for Ukraine follows changing tactics by the Russians, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces more protected in armoured carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians,” Austin said during a trip to Laos.
The announcement came two months before Donald Trump moves back into the White House. Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war and has criticised the amount the US has spent on supporting Ukraine. Biden administration officials say they are determined to help Ukraine as much as possible before Joe Biden leaves office.
Antipersonnel landmines have long been criticised by charities and activists because they present a lingering threat to civilians.
According to the AP, Norway’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, called the US decision “very problematic” because Ukraine is a signatory to an international convention opposing the use of landmines.
Austin sought to allay concerns. He said:
The landmines that we would look to provide them would be landmines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own.”
Austin noted that Ukraine is already manufacturing its own antipersonnel landmines. And the US already provides Ukraine with anti-tank mines. Russia has routinely used landmines in the war, but those do not become inert over time.
Staff at Irish embassy in Ukraine told to work from home as tensions escalate
Staff at the Irish embassy in Ukraine have been told to work from home as tensions continue to escalate in the region, reports the PA news agency.
It follows on from the US shutting its own embassy in Kyiv because of a “potential significant air attack” by Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The closure of the US embassy comes after the first use of US-supplied missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.
According to the PA news agency, the Irish premier and minister for defence, Micheál Martin, said that “for the purpose of precaution”, Ireland’s embassy staff are working from home and not in the embassy building in Kyiv.
“That follows consultations between different embassies across Ukraine at the moment, but there’s no plans of withdrawing staff from the embassy,” Martin said.
He added:
This is an abundance of caution here, but obviously the situation is escalated, and we believe Russia should stop this war.
The amount of carnage in this war hasn’t got the proper headlines, but it’s absolutely unacceptable.
I spoke to somebody who came back working with an NGO (non-government organisation) yesterday. He said to me that the level of fatalities of young soldiers on both sides is enormous, and it’s just an appalling lack of any moral compass that leaders can preside and president [Vladimir] Putin can preside over such carnage and it should stop.”
He further stated that Putin is using migration as a war weapon. Martin said that the number of people seeking asylum, including from Ukraine, in Ireland is “unprecedented”.
“I think in fairness, back in 2020 no one anticipated what has now transpired,” he added. “I think the government has behaved responsibly, this government has done anything we possibly can, and the government is moving towards a state accommodation approach.”
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he opposed the US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, because it will enflame the conflict, broadcaster CNN Turk cited him as saying on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Such developments might bring the region and world to the brink of larger war, and both Russia and Ukraine should maintain restraint, Erdoğan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight from Brazil where he attended a G20 Summit.
The UK defence secretary, John Healey, spoke with his counterpart in Kyiv on Tuesday where they discussed London’s plan to support Ukraine, reports the PA news agency.
Healey told the House of Commons on Wednesday:
We’ve seen over recent weeks significant change in the action and in the rhetoric on Ukraine, and Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself.
We as a nation and as a government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine and determined to do more. I discussed this with minister [Rustem] Umerov in a call yesterday where he talked about the robust response that Ukraine is making to recent Russian escalations.
That’s the escalation in the attacks on Ukrainian cities and children, the escalation in attacks on their energy system and the escalation with deploying 10,000 North Korean troops in combat positions on the frontline.
We discussed also our plans as the UK to support them throughout 2025. I remain committed to keeping parliament as fully informed as possible and the [shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge] and the House, I think, will understand the reasons why at this point, I’m not able to go into any further operational details.”
Shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, had raised a point of order at the despatch box after “widespread reports in the media of Storm Shadow missiles being used in Russian territory for the first time”, when he asked whether the Commons had been notified of a future statement related to the conflict. Deputy speaker, Nus Ghani, said she was unaware of any indication of a future statement.
UK and Moldova sign defence pact to counter ‘Russian aggression’
The UK and Moldova launched a new defence and security partnership on Wednesday in the face of threats from Russia, the UK government announced.
The initiative was disclosed as British foreign secretary, David Lammy, visited the Moldovan capital Chisinau, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The UK foreign ministry said the pact was about “building on extensive cooperation between the two countries and strengthening Moldovan resilience against external threats”.
“Moldova is a vital security partner for the UK, which is why to reinforce their resilience against Russian aggression and to keep British streets safe, I am deepening cooperation on irregular migration and launching a new defence and security partnership,” said Lammy.
Moldova has been looking eastwards with unease since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The war has forced millions of civilians to flee their homes in Ukraine, including tens of thousands to Moldova, with more than 50,000 Ukrainian children now living in the country, the UK statement said.
Earlier this month, Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, won re-election after a tense vote overshadowed by allegations of Russian meddling. It came just two weeks after a referendum in which Moldovans voted by a razor-thin margin in favour of joining the EU.
The two votes laid bare divisions in the former Soviet republic, reports AFP. A large diaspora and those in the capital mostly favour joining the EU, while rural areas and the pro-Russian separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are against.
In the early afternoon, the Ukrainian air force told people to seek shelter because of a missile threat. Senior officials told people not to ignore the alert, according to Reuters.
That came shortly before Kyiv’s top military spy agency GUR issued a warning about a Russian psychological operation it said involved fake messages claiming to have been sent by the agency.
GUR said in a statement:
A message is being spread via messengers and social networks … about the threat of a ‘particularly massive’ missile and bomb strike on Ukrainian cities today.”
Two Ukrainian military personnel told Reuters they received messages informing them that Russia would launch more than 300 drones and also use warships, warplanes and ground-based systems to fire missiles in a huge salvo.
Reuters could not immediately determine how the messages were sent. One soldier said he received one from a friend, according to the news agency.
The GUR spy agency said earlier that a Russian military command post had been “successfully struck” in the town of Gubkin in Russia’s Belgorod region, about 168 km (105 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Reuters reports that the statement did not specify who carried out the attack, when it took place or the type of weapon used. Ukraine has also used drones for deep strikes against targets in Russia.
Bloomberg later cited a western official as saying Ukraine had fired UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russia. A spokesperson for prime minister, Keir Starmer, said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
UK-made Storm Shadow missiles fired into Russia for the first time
Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Andrew Roth in Washington report on the use of Storm Shadow missiles
Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources.
The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict.
The Guardian earlier this week reported that the UK would soon approve Storm Shadow missiles for use inside Russia after the US president, Joe Biden, agreed to do the same for the similar American Atacms weapon.
It was not immediately clear what Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to target. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location with the Kursk region. One weapons expert, Trevor Ball, formerly of the US Army said the images circulating did show Storm Shadow fragments though he could verify if they were current or old pictures.
The strike came one day after Ukraine used US-supplied missiles to strike targets in the Bryansk region. Western officials have indicated that they’re specifically targeting the North Korean buildup in the region as well as infrastructure that may be used for a 50,000-strong offensive against a Ukrainian incursion into the region.
Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of US and UK-made missiles inside Russia’s borders would be tantamount to Nato entering into a direct conflict with Moscow.
Defence minister Guido Crosetto has reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine in parliament in Italy today.
Reuters quotes the minister telling lawmakers in Rome:
The government’s position has not changed, we believe it is necessary to continue providing support to Ukraine in line with what we have done so far in order to achieve … the conditions for a just and lasting peace
In the UK, the prime minister’s spokesperson has declined to comment on media reports that UK-manufactured Storm Shadow missiles have been fired at targets within the Russian Federation.
The spokesperson for prime minister Keir Starmer said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters, but the Guardian understands that the missiles have been used.
Bloomberg also reported their use on Wednesday, citing an unnamed western official. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location within Kursk region.
Britain had previously said Ukraine could use Storm Shadow cruise missiles within Ukrainian territory, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government had been pressing for months for permission to strike at targets inside Russia.
One person has been reported injured in the Belgorod region by Ukrainian shelling.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that Ukraine’s foreign ministry has reminded embassies in Kyiv that the threat of an attack by Russia has been a daily reality for Ukrainians for over 1,000 days now, and said they are in constant contact with foreign partners regarding potential security threats.
Tass, citing the governor of Kursk region, reports that two Ukrainian missiles have been shot down by Russian air defence in the region.
