UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles have been used by Ukrainian forces against Russian targets, Britain's Defence Secretary said on Thursday.
Ben Wallace declined to give further details about the use of the long-range cruise missiles.
The UK government confirmed it would supply the weapons to Ukraine earlier this month.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lobbied western leaders to supply Nato fighter jets to his nation, particularly F-16s which the UK does not possess.
Mr Wallace suggested the Storm Shadow missiles could help provide some of the same capabilities to strike at Russian positions behind the front line.
At a press conference at the UK’s Permanent Joint HQ in Northwood with his Norwegian counterpart Bjorn Arild Gram, Mr Wallace said: “It is my understanding that it [Storm Shadow] has been used since we announced its deployment to Ukraine.”
He said the missiles give the Ukrainians the ability to strike Russian command and control centres which had been moved further behind the front line to keep them out of range of the rocket artillery systems the West has supplied to Kyiv.
“It’s also one of the mitigations that, if you can’t supply fighter aircraft, can you help provide one of the things that fighter aircraft deliver, which is deep strike,” he said.
“And yes, we can, we can do that with Storm Shadow.”
Ukraine and Russia conflict latest – in pictures
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A Ukrainian soldier moves along a trench at a position near the front-line town of Bakhmut. Reuters -
The leader of Russia's Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, right, talks to his fighters in Bakhmut. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman from the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade keeps watch on the front line. EPA -
An evacuee from eastern Ukraine boards a train in Pokrovsk bound for Lviv. Reuters -
Fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which fights on the side of Ukraine, in the north of the country, not far from the Russian border. AFP -
A Ukrainian army multiple rocket launcher fires at Russian positions on the front line near Bakhmut. AP -
Smoke rises after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv. Reuters -
A Ukrainian man plants sunflowers between a damaged Russian tank and its turret in his garden in the village of Velyka Dymerka, Kyiv region. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen rest at their positions after a battle near the front-line city of Bakhmut. Reuters -
A teenager aims a Kalashnikov AK47 rifle during defence training at a centre for school pupils in Lviv. AFP -
A Ukrainian national flag in the middle of a blossoming field near Brovary, east of Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen check Russian positions near the front-line city of Bakhmut. Reuters -
Rescuers put out a fire during a Russian air strike on Kyiv. EPA -
Ukrainian boys play at being soldiers in the village of Stoyanka. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen during an exercise in the Chernihiv region. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon on the front line near Bakhmut. AP
The Defence Secretary warned that Vladimir Putin seemed determined to prolong the war in Ukraine “no matter what the cost” to the Russian people.
“He’s on the receiving end of over 250,000 dead or injured of his own troops, over 10,000 armoured vehicles destroyed or captured, he’s low on his stocks, his international reputation is pretty much trashed on the rocks, and he is still pressing on,” Mr Wallace said.
“So I’m afraid to say at the moment Russia still seems determined, no matter what the cost to their own people.
“And that’s why it’s important that Ukraine is not only given the tools to defend itself, but also to go to the next step of expelling Russia from its borders.
“I’m not going to speculate when they will do that. We are on the right trajectory of their capability, their training, their weapons systems.”
