UK Secretary of Defense, Ben Wallace, has confirmed that London is sending Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to Kiev, according to TASS. The announcement by Wallace follows the earlier confirmation given by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his February 8 pilgrimage to Kiev. Wallace addressed the UK House of Commons on Thursday, describing the move as “a calibrated and proportionate response to Russia’s escalations.” “The use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory,” Wallace said in an obvious reference to Crimea.
The range of the Storm Shadow missiles comes close to 200 miles, which is longer than the HIMARS systems given to Kiev earlier. A senior US military official told CNN that the missile is “a real game changer from a range perspective.” It should be noted that previous “game changers” and other forms of “wunderwaffe” have yet to change anything on the ground for Ukraine, which is being destroyed by their controllers in London and their lackeys in Washington. CNN, citing a Western official, reported that London has “received assurances from the Ukrainian government” that Storm Shadow missiles would be used “only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia,” as another clear reference to Crimea. However, with the recent brazen assault on the Kremlin by Kiev, backed by the British, those assurances will mean nothing to Russia.
The change in the military situation “will require a relevant response” from Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the news. He stated that appropriate decisions would be made by Russian commanders, without indicating what those steps might be. In the past, the Russian policy has been to push Ukrainian forces further out of range, but Moscow’s response will likely be different and asymmetric, given the unhinged escalation by the British and their proxies in Ukraine.
The Washington Post said London hoped its example would convince the US to follow suit and also provide long-range weapons. POLITICO also says that President Biden’s team is “breathing a quiet sigh of relief, according to multiple U.S. officials,” who “hope it will silence critics who want the U.S. to send ATACMS,” which is the equivalent system in the US arsenal. POLITICO then cites one U.S. official, perhaps the same official, who said “our policy on ATACMS has not changed.”
This latest phase of escalation by the British should be seen in the context of the growing traction of the peace initiatives coming from China, the Vatican and Brazil, as well as the growing reality of the actual state of the battlefield in Ukraine.
