In this May 9, 2022 photo, Russian BTR-82A armoured personnel carrier and Yars intercontinental ballistic missile systems drive in the Red Square during a parade on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow.Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that he will consider the NATO military alliance to be “at war” with his country if Ukraine is allowed to use U.S.- and British-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.
Mr. Putin gave the warning ahead of a meeting Friday between U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington. The two leaders will consider Ukraine’s request to allow it to use U.S.-made ATACMS tactical missile systems and British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike military targets inside Russia – specifically the sites Russia uses to launch its near-daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
What are Storm Shadow missiles?
The Storm Shadow cruise missile is armed with a penetrating warhead capable of destroying hardened and buried targets from long range
STORM SHADOW / SCALP
Anglo-French venture built by
European missile-maker MBDA
TRI 60-30
turbofan engine
Guidance
system
Wings
Warhead
Mass:
Speed:
Range:
1,300 kg
Mach 0.8
Over 250 km
3 m
5.1 m
HOW STORM SHADOW NAVIGATES
1
2
3
1
Missile detaches from bomber, wings extend
2
Drops to very low altitude. Uses GPS and digital terrain matching technology to hug land contours, staying below radar
3
Final approach – nose cone jettisoned, allowing hi-res infrared camera to identify target
‘BROACH’ TANDEM WARHEAD
Bomb
Precursor
Soil
Concrete
1
Inside
bunker
2
3
4
1
Contact sensor detects target
2
Armour-penetrating precursor blasts jet of hot metal through up to 5 metres of concrete
3
Follow-through bomb separates from missile and penetrates structure
4
Bomb, delayed by fuse, detonates within bunker
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
What are Storm Shadow missiles?
The Storm Shadow cruise missile is armed with a penetrating warhead capable of destroying hardened and buried targets from long range
STORM SHADOW / SCALP
Anglo-French venture built by
European missile-maker MBDA
TRI 60-30
turbofan engine
Guidance
system
Wings
Warhead
Mass:
Speed:
Range:
1,300 kg
Mach 0.8
Over 250 km
3 m
5.1 m
HOW STORM SHADOW NAVIGATES
1
2
3
1
Missile detaches from bomber, wings extend
2
Drops to very low altitude. Uses GPS and digital terrain matching technology to hug land contours, staying below radar
3
Final approach – nose cone jettisoned, allowing hi-res infrared camera to identify target
‘BROACH’ TANDEM WARHEAD
Soil
Concrete
Bomb
Precursor
1
Inside
bunker
2
3
4
1
Contact sensor detects target
2
Armour-penetrating precursor blasts jet of hot metal through up to 5 metres of concrete
3
Follow-through bomb separates from missile and penetrates structure
4
Bomb, delayed by fuse, detonates within bunker
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
What are Storm Shadow missiles?
The Storm Shadow cruise missile is armed with a penetrating warhead capable of destroying hardened and buried targets from long range
STORM SHADOW / SCALP
Anglo-French venture built by European missile-maker MBDA
3 m
TRI 60-30
turbofan engine
Wings
Warhead
Guidance
system
5.1 m
Mass: 1,300 kg
Speed: Mach 0.8
Range: Over 250 km
HOW STORM SHADOW NAVIGATES
1
2
3
1
3
2
Missile detaches from bomber, wings extend
Drops to very low altitude. Uses GPS and digital terrain matching technology to hug land contours, staying below radar
Final approach – nose cone jettisoned, allowing hi-res infrared camera to identify target
‘BROACH’ TANDEM WARHEAD
Bomb
Precursor
Soil
1
Inside
bunker
Concrete
2
3
1
Contact sensor detects target
4
2
Armour-penetrating precursor blasts jet of hot metal through up to 5 metres of concrete
3
Follow-through bomb separates from missile and penetrates structure
4
Bomb, delayed by fuse, detonates within bunker
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Canada supports Ukraine using long-range weapons to “prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.”
Mr. Putin said giving Ukraine such permission would effectively amount to NATO firing its missiles into Russia, claiming the 32-member military alliance was already helping Ukraine operate the missile systems and choose targets.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” the long-ruling Mr. Putin said in remarks to state-controlled television on Thursday. “It would mean that NATO countries, the U.S., European countries, are at war with Russia.”
The U.S. reportedly shipped more than 100 ATACMS – an acronym for Army Tactical Missile System, with a range of up to 300 kilometres – to Ukraine earlier this year, while Britain has been supplying Kyiv with Storm Shadows, which have a range of up to 560 kilometres, since last year. Both systems were delivered with the restriction that they only be used to strike Russian military targets inside occupied areas of Ukraine.
Mr. Biden confirmed at the start of the meeting with Mr. Starmer on Friday that Ukraine’s request to use those missiles to hit targets in Russia was on the table. “We’re going to discuss that now,” he said in response to a reporter’s question in a photo-opportunity in the East Room of the White House. Mr. Biden brushed off the Russian President’s threat. “I don’t think that much about Vladimir Putin.”
The U.S. President reiterated that Mr. Putin “will not prevail in this war; the people of Ukraine will prevail.” Mr. Starmer said Ukraine was the first item on the two leaders’ agenda. “The next few weeks and months have been crucial, very, very important, that we support Ukraine in this vital war of freedom. I look forward to discussing that with you,” he said.
Earlier in the day, John Kirby, spokesman for Mr. Biden’s National Security Council, said the U.S. did not expect to announce any change to its policy out of the meeting with Mr. Starmer.
“I wouldn’t be looking for an announcement today about long-range strike capabilities inside Russia,” he told a media briefing in Washington. “There’s no change to our policy with respect to that and, again, I wouldn’t expect to see a change to that policy today.”
Mr. Kirby did not, however, definitively rule out a change to the policy in future. And he would not say whether Britain or France would require U.S. permission to allow Kyiv to use missiles provided by those European countries to hit targets in Russia. This question is unclear because some components of the British and French missiles are provided by U.S. companies.
“I can’t speak for the British and the French one way or another,” he said. “These are sovereign countries and they have to decide.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted on Wednesday that the allies were looking favourably at Ukraine’s request to lift the restriction. “From day one we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed. I have no doubt we will continue to do that,” he said during a joint visit to Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Russia has carried out air strikes on cities around Ukraine since the start of the war, and has recently escalated attacks on the country’s electricity grid and heating systems. Russia’s allies North Korea and Iran have helped supply the campaign with hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of explosive drones.
Mr. Putin said that if the U.S. and Britain allowed Ukraine to use their missiles to strike inside Russia, “we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face.”
While Moscow has regularly warned that the conflict could grow if the West continues to provide military support to Ukraine, it’s less common for the warning to come from Mr. Putin himself. On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he hoped leaders in the West had understood the message.
“The statement made by President Putin yesterday is very important. It is extremely clear, unambiguous and does not allow for double readings. We have no doubt that this statement reached those it was intended for.”
The main headline in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper on Friday was blunt. “Vladimir Putin draws his red line.”
Mr. Kirby, however, played down the significance of the threat. “It’s hard to take anything coming out of Putin’s face at his word. This is not rhetoric that we haven’t heard from him before,” he said. “We take note of it. Got it. We have our own calculus for what we decide to provide to Ukraine.”
Ukrainian officials similarly argue that Russia can do nothing to enforce its red line – other than potentially rattle its nuclear sabre – since the large majority of its military is already deployed in Ukraine, leaving it unable to fight a war against NATO.
Tens of thousands of people have died since Mr. Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. Russia now occupies about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine recently captured a small part of Russia’s Kursk region.
With a report from Reuters