The US and the UK may permit Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles for long-range strikes inside Russian territory without it becoming public until the first one is fired, The Times reported on Friday.
Ukraine has received Storm Shadows from the UK and a variant from France, known as the SCALP-EG. Both versions have a range of about 155 miles.
The Times report said that Western diplomats are poised to sign off on Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadows in strikes on Russian territory but will hold back from making an official announcement. They don’t want to publicize the move since it would give Russia advanced notice.
Previous escalatory steps that the US has taken in the Ukraine proxy war were not announced publicly. For example, when President Biden gave Ukraine the greenlight to use US-provided weapons in Russian border regions, it was first revealed by media reports and later acknowledged by the administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the US of NATO-provided weapons in long-range strikes on Russian territory would put NATO at war with Russia. “It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” he said earlier this month.
Storm Shadows and other precision-guided missiles provided by NATO countries require Western intelligence to be fired. Earlier this year, a German military leak revealed that British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping fire Storm Shadows.
Ukraine could be granted permission to fire Storm Shadows into Russia during a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Western officials at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
One of the Times sources said that the US wants to move fast on the escalation because senior members of the Biden administration are focused on “legacy building” as the presidential election approaches.
