British Prime Minister uses Storm Shadow to reaffirm Ukraine’s right to carry out attacks inside Russia

Travelling to the NATO summit late on Tuesday 9 July, new British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government’s stance on Ukraine was unchanged from that of his predecessor, including the policy of using British long-range weapons against targets in Russia.

When asked by a Bloomberg reporter about Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Starmer agreed that it was up to Ukraine how it used them “for defensive purposes” as long as it did so “in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

In May, then British Foreign Secretary David Cameron made similar statements during his visit to Kyiv, but without specifically mentioning the use of Storm Shadow or other British weapons against targets in Russia.

“Ukraine has the right to strike inside Russia because Russia is striking inside Ukraine… One can understand why Ukraine feels the need to defend itself,” Cameron said at the time.

The Storm Shadow, which first arrived in Ukraine in May 2023, is, like its French variant SCALP EG, a subsonic cruise missile designed to attack pre-planned stationary targets with a range of over 250 kilometers. In May, France also approved the use of its long-range weapons to attack targets in Russia.

An article in the Kyiv Post discussed in detail the development and technical capabilities of the missiles.

In July 2023, Russian media claimed that a Storm Shadow attacked a hotel in occupied Berdyansk, killing a high-ranking general. In the same month, Russian air defenses reportedly shot down a Storm Shadow in Zaporizhia in central Ukraine.

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This railway line is used to transport military equipment and Russian troops to the combat zone in Ukraine.

A video posted on Facebook by the Ukrainian Air Force suggested that a Storm Shadow missile launched from a Su-24 tactical bomber was used in an attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, destroying the Rostov-on-Don submarine and the Minsk landing ship.

In May of this year, several missiles, presumably Anglo-French Storm Shadow/SCALP EG cruise missiles, attacked the Russian military unit 85683 on Mount Ai-Petri in Crimea.