The United Kingdom has discreetly delivered dozens of Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine in recent weeks, marking the first such shipment under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reported, citing its sources, that the missiles were dispatched after Ukraine experienced a shortage of long-range weaponry.
The delivery occurred before the decision by the UK and US to permit Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory. Officials from both the US and UK indicated that the decision to allow these strikes was prompted by Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops to the conflict zone.
The move is also viewed as a strategic effort by outgoing US President Joe Biden and allies to strengthen Ukraine’s negotiating position ahead of Trump’s presidency who claimed before to end war and cut off support of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces recently deployed British Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russia, following a similar strike using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) in the Bryansk Oblast.
At the Group of 20 summit in Brazil on 20 November, Starmer affirmed that his government was “doubling down” on support for Ukraine, though he refrained from providing specific details.
Storm Shadow missiles, manufactured by MBDA, are precision-guided, air-launched weapons with a range exceeding 250 kilometers. They utilize advanced navigation technologies, including inertial navigation, GPS, and terrain-reference systems.
The UK has been historically reticent about disclosing precise missile transfer numbers. The last confirmed shipment of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine was in April, under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration.
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