Russia on Friday called Britain’s decision to supply Kiev with long-range missiles an “extremely hostile” move, accusing London of seeking a “serious escalation” of the conflict.
The delivery of the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, announced on Thursday, is “an extremely hostile move by London, aimed at further flooding Ukraine with weapons and causing a serious aggravation of the situation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. it’s a statement.
“The deployment of long-range, high-precision missiles in the kyiv regime clearly confirms the unprecedented level of UK involvement in the Ukraine conflict,” Russian diplomacy commented.
Moscow accused London of trying to “bring 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 supply of Storm Shadows, which can reach 250 kilometres, the UK became the first country to deliver this type of long-range weaponry to Ukraine.
Western countries have so far been reluctant to send weapons that would allow Ukraine to attack deep behind Moscow lines, but also potentially reach Russian territory, fearing an escalation in the conflict.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today thanked UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for sending the missiles to kyiv by telephone.
“Thank you for significantly increasing our capabilities with the Storm Shadow long-range missiles and other military assistance,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
In the phone conversation, Zelensky and Sunak also discussed other defense cooperation issues, and coordinated their positions on international understandings.
“Specifically, we need clear signals about Ukraine’s future in NATO,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.7 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 8,791 civilian deaths and 14,815 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, emphasizing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
