Despite appeals from President Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain rejected Ukraine’s request to use Storm Shadow missiles to launch attacks in the Kursk region, The Telegraph reports, citing an anonymous source in the British Prime Minister’s office.
As Russian forces launch counterattacks on the Kursk Front, Zelensky has again asked Western allies for permission to use long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia.
Join us via Telegram
Follow our coverage of the war on @Kyivpost_official.
However, the source stated that “there has been no change.”
“The UK’s position has not changed. We have provided military assistance to support Ukraine’s clear right to self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks in accordance with international humanitarian law. We are clear that the equipment supplied by the UK is intended for the defence of Ukraine.”
Last month, during a visit to Britain, Zelensky asked Sir Keir Starmer to lift restrictions on the use of munitions with a range of about 250 kilometers, as Kyiv plans to attack airfields and logistics centers far behind the front lines that Moscow is using to reinforce its positions in Kursk.
Former British tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon stated that Storm Shadow missiles could attack “railway junctions and major roads to Kursk, as well as all airfields within a 100-mile (160-kilometer) radius.”
Military combat aircraft (fighters, bombers, fighter-bombers) fly about 8 to 12 miles per minute (regulated) at normal subsonic cruising speed. That means 100 miles is a short-haul domestic flight for any aircraft likely to come into conflict with ground or air forces, according to a Kyiv Post analyst with twenty years of experience flying military combat aircraft.
Other interesting topics
“They sat in the forest and drank coffee” – Ukrainians report on first encounters with attackers in the Kursk region
Unlike the previous year’s troops, who had to contend with complex Russian defenses during a large-scale counteroffensive, the forces attacking the Kremlin border area advanced quickly and effortlessly.
The use of the Storm Shadow missiles also depends on France, as the missiles are a joint development between Great Britain and France (British Aerospace and Matra). Paris also has a say in their use.
Ukraine has also asked the US for permission to use its long-range ATACMS missiles in the Kursk offensive, but this has so far been denied.
On August 12, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported that he had discussed with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu the possibility of lifting the ban on attacks on military targets in Russia.
“We discussed recent events at the front and stressed the need to lift the ban on attacks on military targets in enemy territory,” Umerov said on social media.
Storm Shadow is a joint British-French development (British Aerospace and Matra) with two main variants: an export version with a range of up to 250 kilometers and a basic version with a range of up to 560 kilometers. In the French Air Force it is known as SCALP-EG. While a range of 250 kilometers is NATO standard, it represents a significant breakthrough for the Ukrainian armed forces and the anti-Russian coalition.
Last week, Ukraine sent troops to the Russian border region around Kursk, the largest cross-border operation by Kyiv since the start of Moscow’s offensive more than two years ago.
The attack, which displaced tens of thousands of people, was the most significant attack by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the operation was aimed at dispersing Moscow’s troops and destabilising the country after months of slow Russian advances along the front line.
The Kremlin was apparently completely surprised by the attack and the Moscow army sent reserve troops, tanks, aircraft, artillery and drones into action to quell the attack.
