LONDON: Moscow’s Ambassador in London, Andrei Kelin, said Thursday Britain was “now directly involved” in Russia’s war with Ukraine, following reports Kyiv had fired UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles onto Russian territory.
Ukraine launched the Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time on Wednesday, a Russian military blog and Reuters reported.
A day earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had hit the country with US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles.
The Russian ambassador told Sky News that “this firing cannot happen” without the UK’s involvement. He also accused Ukraine of using mercenaries from different countries in the fighting.
When asked if the move had dragged Britain into the war, Mr Kelin said, “Absolutely, Britain and UK is now directly involved in this war, because this firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well.”
Ukraine’s government has yet to confirm the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, which come days after United States President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly removed the restrictions on the use of the long-range, US-made weapons after lobbying by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader has been pressing his Western allies to allow the use of the ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile System, amid military gains by Russian forces in recent months. Kyiv has received more than $100bn in aid from the West, including more than $61bn from the US, Al Jazeera reported.
“Two Storm Shadow cruise missiles, six HIMARS rockets, and 67 unmanned aerial vehicles were neutralised by air defence systems,” Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of the UK-French-made missiles during a Wednesday news conference.
When Umerov was asked if Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to hit a target inside Russia, he replied, “We are using all the means to defend our country, so we’ll not go into detail. But we are just saying that we are capable and able to respond.”
The Reuters news agency reported the pro-Russian Two Majors channel posted on Telegram that Ukraine fired up to 12 Storm Shadow missiles into Russia’s Kursk region, which lies on Ukraine’s border. The channel carried pictures of pieces of the missile in which the name Storm Shadow was clearly visible.
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On Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Kursk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine’s Western allies that if they allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with the missiles, it would mean NATO is “at war” with Russia.
On Tuesday, Putin officially lowered the threshold of nuclear weapons use for Russia. These changes were first announced in September.
Regarding Tuesday’s ATACMS attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate.”
