Ukraine fires UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles at Russia for first time

Expands the use of long-range weapons as the 1,000-day conflict enters a new phase

London: Ukrainian forces fired British cruise missiles at military targets inside Russia for the first time, expanding the use of Western-provided long-range weapons as the 1,000-day conflict enters a new phase.

The UK approved the use of Storm Shadow missiles in response to Russia deploying North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine, according to a Western official familiar with the matter. The British government considered the move by Moscow to be an escalation, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The strike came a day after Ukraine deployed US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, for the first time to strike a military facility in the western Bryansk region. It followed the decision by President Joe Biden's administration to approve Kyiv's limited use of the weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

The prospect of Donald Trump's return to the White House in January and his pledge to end the war in short order has created a new sense of urgency among Western allies to strengthen Ukraine's hand ahead of any talks. The Kremlin said on Wednesday it's prepared to discuss a potential cease-fire in Ukraine with Trump, an overture that met with immediate skepticism from Western officials.

'Doubling down on support'

"We've seen over recent weeks a significant change in the action and in the rhetoric on Ukraine," UK Defence Secretary John Healey said in Parliament. "We as a nation and as a government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine and determined to do more."

The issue of long-term strikes had dominated the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Brazil this week. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn't publicly back Biden's move, despite long being seen as an advocate, leading to questions about whether his government would allow the use of British-made Storm Shadows.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has long called for Western governments to bolster military support, including allowing the use of long-range missiles to hit targets in Russia that are crucial to Vladimir Putin's war effort.

Storm Shadow debris was found in Russia's Kursk region to the northeast of Ukraine and two missiles were intercepted over Yeysk, an Azov Sea port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, according to the Telegram channel Rybar, which has connections to the army and more than 1.3 million subscribers. The information couldn't be independently verified.

In the latest development, the US will also send Kyiv at least $275 million in new weapons, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, citing US officials it didn't name. This will come on top of the Biden administration's decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines to blunt steady advances of Russian troops along the entire battle-field.

Despite Russia's expressed readiness to discuss a truce, its forces have intensified their bombardment of Ukraine in recent days. The Kremlin has also issued a revamped nuclear doctrine lowering the threshold for a potential atomic response.

Putin has "more than once, or more precisely, constantly, stated that he is ready for contacts and negotiations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to the state-run Tass news service. He also cautioned that "freezing this conflict will not work for us," according to Tass.

Intensify the combat

Peskov's comments were in response to a report from Reuters that Moscow could be open to negotiations on halting the fighting roughly along current battle lines. The report cited five unidentified, current and former Russian officials.

Several officials from NATO countries said their assessment remained that Putin wasn't ready for serious talks or making concessions. Russia's focus remains on expanding its gains on Ukrainian territory and expelling Ukrainian forces from its Kursk region, where they hold territory after an incursion earlier this year, before any eventual deal, two people close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg News.

Reuters reported that Putin may agree to discuss a carve-up of four regions in Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that Russia illegally declared annexed in 2022, but doesn't fully control. The Russian leader has declared them to be "forever" part of his country, although only about 77% of the four regions are under the Kremlin's control, according to Bloomberg calculations based on open-source data.

Russia may also be ready to pull out its forces from small slices of territory it holds in the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions, according to two of the officials cited in the report.

With Trump set to take office in two months, both sides sought to set parameters for what will likely be difficult dealmaking. His return to the White House also raises the prospect of a sharp cut in US aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said Tuesday his country would make no concessions on sovereignty or territory. Zelenskiy's own formula for peace is based on obtaining a clear path to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership and security guarantees for protection until it joins.

"No matter what Putin says, he doesn't want peace and is not ready to negotiate it," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters en route to the Group of 20 summit in Brazil. "Putin's intention is to intensify the combat, we've seen this for weeks."