Britain has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, giving Ukrainian forces a new long-range strike capability ahead of a long-awaited counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.
Several high-ranking Western officials told CNN about this.
Storm Shadow is a long-range cruise missile jointly developed by Great Britain and France. It is usually launched from the air.
With a range of more than 250 km or 155 miles, it is only slightly inferior to the 185-mile American Army-class Surface-to-Surface System (ATACMS).
It is critical that Storm Shadow has sufficient range to strike deep into the temporarily Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine.
A Western official told CNN that Britain had received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would only be used within the sovereign territory of Ukraine and not to strike Russian territory.
British officials often make public statements identifying Crimea as Ukrainian sovereign territory, calling it "illegally annexed."
The Storm Shadow missile is "a real game changer in terms of range," a senior US military official said. The missile gives Kyiv the capabilities it has been asking for since the start of the war, the official added.
This is not the first time that Great Britain has gone further than the United States in terms of arming Ukraine, which it is ready to send to combat Russian aggression. Britain became the first ally to announce that it was sending modern Western tanks to Ukraine, pledging in January to provide 14 Challenge 2 tanks. It was only after London's move that the US announced that it would provide M-1 Abrams tanks.
Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made it clear that Britain is considering providing long-range weapons to Ukraine.
It should be noted that there were reports of discussions in Britain regarding the transfer of long-range Harpoon anti-ship missiles or Storm Shadow air-to-surface missiles to Ukraine back in February.
