The delivery of the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, announced on Thursday, is “an extremely hostile measure by London, designed to further flood Ukraine with weapons and provoke a serious deterioration of the situation,” the Russian foreign ministry said. in a statement.
“The placement of highly accurate long-range missiles on the Kiev regime clearly confirms the unprecedented level of British involvement in the Ukrainian conflict,” the Russian diplomacy said.
Moscow accused London of trying to “take the conflict to an absolutely new level in terms of destruction and loss of life”.
“Russia reserves the right to take all necessary measures to neutralize threats that may arise from Ukraine’s use of cruise missiles,” the ministry added.
With the delivery of Storm Shadows, which can reach 250 kilometers, the UK became the first country to deliver this type of long-range weapon to Ukraine.
Until now, Western countries have been reluctant to send Ukraine weapons that could attack deep within Moscow’s lines, but also potentially reach Russian territory, for fear of escalating the conflict.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak on Friday for sending the missiles to Kiev.
“Thank you for significantly increasing our capabilities with long-range Storm Shadow missiles and other military aid,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
In the call, Zelensky and Sunak also discussed other issues of defense cooperation, aligning their positions with international agreements.
“In particular, we need clear signals about Ukraine’s future in NATO”wrote Zelensky on Twitter.
Source: DN
