Ukraine fires British cruise missiles into Russia; Trump not there

(Originally published Nov. 21 in “What in the World“) Ukraine followed up its use of U.S.-made long-range missiles by firing British long-range cruise missiles at targets in Russia.

Russian reports said at least 12 Storm Shadows were fired into the country’s Kursk province, where Ukrainian troops are resisting a counteroffensive by Russian and North Korean troops to repel them. Their apparent target was a Russian command center in the village of Mar’ino. The first Atacms, however, were fired at an ammo dump in neighboring Bryansk province.

After lame-duck U.S. President Joe Biden lifted his restriction this week on Ukraine using Atacms against targets inside Russia, the United Kingdom was finally able to give its permission for Kyiv to use its Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The Storm Shadow contains U.S.-made parts, which gave Biden control over their use in Ukraine.

Just to show that his incrementalist policy of escalating weapons aid to Ukraine in support of a proxy war was as cynical as it has always seemed, Biden has just approved sending Ukraine anti-personnel landmines to add to the cluster munitions the U.S. already sends it. After they kill some Russians—and maybe some North Koreans—those landmines will be killing Ukrainians for years to come.

While Atacms are fired from mobile, Himars launchers on the ground, Storm Shadows are launched from an aircraft. Ukraine presumably fired them from its Dutch and Danish F-16s.

The Atacm, or MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, has a range of 300km, the Storm Shadow has a shorter range of 250km. The U.S. Army is already testing a new missile with an even greater range: the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, can hit targets more than 400km away. And work is also underway to extend its range to over 500km.