After US missile, Ukraine fires UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia (VIDEO)

DW

Thursday, 21 November 2024 (10:45 IST)
Ukraine has reportedly fired British-made Storm Shadow longer-range missiles into Russian territory, according to a Bloomberg report.
 
The Bloomberg report cited an unnamed Western official. British news outlets including The Guardian and the Financial Times later published similar reports based off of footage circulating on social media.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his office would not comment on reports or operational matters.
 
The UK supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles last year and said it could use them within Ukrainian territory, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been pressing for months for permission to strike targets inside Russia.
 
The Storm Shadow missiles have a range in excess of 250 kilometers (155 miles) and would give Ukraine the ability to hit targets deeper inside Russia.

 
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously warned that the use of US and British-made missiles on Russian territory would be tantamount to NATO entering a direct conflict with Russia.
 
Zelenskyy: US landmines 'very important to stop Russian assaults'
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the US decision to send landmines to Kyiv, saying they were "very important" in the fight against Russian attacks.
 
A US official has confirmed that Washington will be providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines to shore up Ukrainian defenses, adding that the mines are of the "non-persistent" variety, meaning they become inert after a period of time when their batteries run out.
 
Zelenskyy thanked the US for the landmines, saying it would "really strengthen our troops on the front."

US Embassy in Kyiv to reopen
 
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has confirmed that the US Embassy in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, will reopen on Thursday.
 
Miller did not disclose what kind of threat had forced the embassy to shut down on Wednesday.
 
"We take the safety and security of our personnel ... extremely seriously," he said.
 
The US mission closure comes a day after Moscow vowed to respond to Ukraine's firing of longer-range US-supplied missiles at Russia. For the first time in the nearly three-year war, the US gave permission for Kyiv to fire its missiles into Russian territory.

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