U.K. Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said yesterday that the country has donated Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. Wallace said Storm Shadow would compliment the long-range systems already gifted, including HIMARS and Harpoon missiles, as well as Ukraine’s own Neptune cruise missiles.
“The donation of these weapon systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality,” Wallace said. “Especially, the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian Civilian Infrastructure, which is against International Law. Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself against this. Their use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian Sovereign Territory.”
Wallace said that Russia’s battlefield setbacks have led it to target energy infrastructure, which puts millions of people at risk of sickness and death. “As of April 2, there have been 788 attacks on healthcare facilities – hospitals, clinics, medical centers,” he stated, adding “there have been instances of damage to educational faculties – schools, day care centers and nurseries”. In addition, crops, agriculture and industrial facilities have been targeted along with transportation and communications infrastructure.
The Defence Secretary pointed out that Storm Shadow missiles are “not in the same league” as the Russian AS-24 KILLJOY hypersonic missile or Shahed Iranian one-way attack drones, or their Kalibr cruise missile with a range of over 2,000km, which is approximately seven times that of the Storm Shadow missile.
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