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Ukraine is has fired British long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time, according to reports, as momentum builds in the West’s military support for Kyiv’s war effort.
The British-made missile – which Kyiv has been lobbying to use beyond Russia’s borders for months – is widely-reported to have been fired at Russia on Wednesday.
Separate images published by the Telegraph appear to show fragments of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia’s Kursk region, beyond Ukraine’s northeastern border. It is unclear whether the reports relate to the same strike.
It comes after Ukraine fired an American-made long-range ATACMS missile more than 100 kilometres deep into Russia on Tuesday, after US president Joe Biden gave way to months of pressure from Kyiv.
On Wednesday, the US also announced it would allow the Ukrainian military to use anti-personnel landmines, as it seeks to slow down Russian advances.
Moscow has responded angrily to the developments, accusing the West of escalating the conflict.
Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a revised version of Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, which lowered the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons.
Royal Navy flagship and 16 Chinooks to be decommissioned, Britain’s defence secretary says
Two former Royal Navy flagships, a frigate and 14 Chinook helicopters will be decommissioned in cost-saving measures announced by Britain’s defence secretary John Healey.
The savings, which Mr Healey blamed on the “dire inheritance” left by the Tories, will see assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, which have both been flagships, decommissioned after having been effectively mothballed at a cost of £9m a year. The ageing frigate HMS Northumberland is beyond economic repair and will also be decommissioned.
The Army’s Watchkeeper drones, which cost around £5m each and have been in service for a decade but have been beset by problems and are effectively obsolete, will be grounded.
“For too long our soldiers, sailors, aviators have been stuck with old, outdated equipment because ministers wouldn’t make the difficult decommissioning decisions,” Mr Healey told MPs, who insisted he had “full backing from our service chiefs” as he added: “As technology advances at pace, we must move faster towards the future.”
“These decisions are set to save the MoD £150m over the next two years and up to £500m over five years, savings that will be retained in full in defence,” he said.
But Tories raised concerns about the impact of the decision on the Marines, and former defence committee chair Sir Julian Lewis warned the absence of the assault ships could encourage an enemy “to try something like the Falklands in the future”.
Andy Gregory20 November 2024 15:57
Zelensky visits injured Ukrainian soldiers to award them with state honours
Andy Gregory20 November 2024 15:44
Germany declines to support EU proposal for defence bonds
The German government has declined to explicitly support an EU proposal to issue defence bonds, as countries look for ways to increase defence spending and strengthen support for Ukraine.
Berlin has previously opposed the idea of joint EU borrowing to fund key investments in areas such as defence, frustrating politicians across Europe.
On Tuesday, foreign ministers from Poland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK pledged to “strengthen Europe’s security and defence, using all levers available to us, including the economic and financing power of the European Union”.
Despite this, a German foreign ministry spokesperson appeared to play down the prospect of a change in policy.
Asked about the prospect of issuing Eurobonds for defence, the spokesperson said they did “not find any other aspects that you had in your question in the declaration”.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 15:30
German embassy in Kyiv stays open despite US embassy attack threat
Germany’s embassy in Kyiv has remained open in a limited capacity and can still be contacted by German citizens in Ukraine, a foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
“We are in constant contact with our colleagues on the ground so that we can take appropriate measures if the situation changes,” the official said.
The US shut its embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday after it received a “specific information of a potential significant air attack”.
Ukraine’s top spy agency has since said that Russia spread fake information about possible strikes in “massive information-psychological attack” – but it is not confirmed whether they were related.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 15:17
What is the Storm Shadow cruise missile? Ukraine hits Russia with British weapon for first time
Ukraine is believed to have used British-made Storm Shdaow long-range missiles inside Russia for the first time.
It comes days after Joe Biden gave the green light for Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles to target Vlasimir Putin’s forces deep inside Russia, the first such missiles were used on Tuesday.
That opened the door for Britain to do the same, with the UK missiles relying on US targeting programmes.
Read the full report:
Alex Croft20 November 2024 15:05
Ukraine fires first UK Storm Shadow missile into Russia – reports
The Ukranian military has fired a long-range Storm Shadow missile beyond Russia borders for the first time, according to reports.
The British-made missile, which Kyiv has so far been prohibited from using while it defends its territory against Putin’s invasion, was fired at Russia on Wednesday, Bloomberg cited an unnamed source as saying.
Meanwhile, images published by The Telegraph appear to show fragments of a Storm Shadow missile in Russia’s Kursk region.
The UK government has not yet commented.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 14:55
Report: Putin gifts a lion, bears and dozens of other animals to North Korea zoo
Vladimir Putin has gifted dozens of animals – including a lion and two bears – to a zoo in North Korea, the latest in a series of gift exchanges as Russia relies on Pyongyang’s artillery and troops to bolster its invasion of Ukraine.
More than 70 animals, including an African lion and two brown bears, were sent by plane with veterinarians from Moscow’s zoo to be transferred to a zoo in Pyongyang.
The animals were “a gift from Vladimir Putin to the Korean people,” the Russian government said.
Steffie Banatvala reports:
Steffie Banatvala20 November 2024 14:47
Report: Stock market today: Asian markets mostly lower as worries over Russia-Ukraine war loom
Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday, despite gains on Wall Street, as worries mounted over escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war.
U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices were little changed.
On Tuesday, Ukraine fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles into Russia, according to the official, marking the first such use in nearly 1,000 days of war. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 14:34
China has key role to play in avoiding nuclear escalation, Macron says
France’s Emmanuel Macron has said that China has an important role to play in avoiding nuclear escalation, after Russian president Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike.
Meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping in Rio de Janeiro as part of the G20 summit, Mr Macron said he asked him to put pressure on Mr Putin to end the war with Ukraine.
Mr Macron said North Korea’s decision to send troops to fight in Ukraine had raised the stakes for China, and that it should push for a de-escalation after Mr Putin’s decision to change Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the summit, the French president said he would invite Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk to France in February for an artificial intelligence summit.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 14:22
Ukraine and Middle East wars eating away at US air defence stocks, top official warns
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are eating into US stockpiles of air defences, the top US admiral overseeing American forces in the Asia-Pacific region has warned.
“With some of the Patriots that have been employed, some of the air-to-air missiles that have been employed, it’s now eating into stocks and to say otherwise would be dishonest,” said Admiral Sam Paparo.
“Inherently, it imposes costs on the readiness of America to respond in the Indo Pacific region, which is the most stressing theater for the quantity and quality of munitions, because the PRC is the most capable potential adversary in the world,” he said, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Alex Croft20 November 2024 14:10
