LONDON: Britain on Thursday became the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow Ukrainian forces to hit Russian troops and supply dumps deep behind the front lines.

Ukraine has been asking for months for long-range missiles, but support provided by Britain and other allies such as the United States has previously been limited to shorter range weapons.

Highlighting what he called the deliberate targeting of civilians, Britain’s Defence Minister Ben Wallace told parliament: “Russia must recognise that its actions alone have led to such systems being provided.”

Wallace said Britain was supplying the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine so they could be used within its territory, implying he had received assurances from Ukraine that they would not be used to target inside Russia.

The Kremlin earlier said that if Britain provided these missiles it would require “an adequate response from our military”.

Storm Shadows, manufactured by European missile maker MBDA, are air-launched long-range missiles, designed for attacks against high-value targets such as hardened bunkers and have a range of more than 250km.

After the United States, Britain has been the second-largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine contributing $2.9 billion worth of support last year.

Wallace said the British supply of Storm Shadows would be enough to meet Ukraine’s current demand.

He also referred to a possible second wave of missile supplies by a British-led group of European countries, which last week asked companies for expressions of interest to supply Ukraine with missiles with a range of up to 300 km.

Wallace said one of the main challenges supplying the weapons was finding a way to incorporate a British-French designed weapon onto Russian-designed aircraft used by Ukrainian forces.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2023