Russia threatens to reply if Ukraine makes use of western missiles

The Kremlin has warned it will carry out an ‘appropriate response’ if Ukraine uses Western missiles to strike Russian soil. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has increasingly urged the West to allow his forces to use long-range weapons, including American ATACMS missiles, against Russian territory to combat the invasion of his nation, now in its 30th month. 

US president Joe Biden said last night that his government was ‘working that out now’ when asked if he would lift restrictions on Kyiv’s use of missiles such as ATACMS.

In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that Vladimir Putin’s forces would exact an ‘appropriate response’ if Ukraine was allowed to use Western missiles, but added that ‘there is no need to expect some kind of response everywhere.’

‘To all these actions, the SMO (special military operation) is the response,’ said Peskov, using the Kremlin’s preferred term for the Ukraine conflict. 

‘Each of these decisions, taken by the collective West and then attributed to Ukraine, is an additional confirmation of the justification, necessity and inevitability of the SMO.’ 

It comes as both British foreign secretary David Lammy and US secretary of state Anthony Blinken visited Kyiv in a rare joint visit that was, unusually, announced in advance – a public signal of British-American support for Ukraine ahead of what’s likely to be a brutal winter of Russian attacks.

Vladimir Putin’s (pictured) government has warned it will carry out an ‘appropriate response’ if Ukraine uses Western missiles to strike Russian soil

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (L) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at Kyiv train station in Kyiv, on September 11, 2024

An ATACMS missile being fired in White Sands, New Mexico, United States

Britain has increasingly supported Ukraine militarily, giving its army Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of 155 miles, but prohibiting Kyiv from firing them into Russian territory. 

Washington, meanwhile, has been reluctant to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia over fears such a move could escalate the bloodiest conflict on European soil in decades.

But sources revealed last week that Biden’s administration was close to an agreement to give Ukraine such weapons, but that Kyiv would need to wait several months as the US works through technical issues ahead of any shipment.

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal told Lammy today: ‘We hope that long-range equipment for strikes on the territory of our enemy will be reached and we will have it. We hope for your help and support in this issue.’

Shmyhal said yesterday that ‘if we are allowed to destroy military targets or weapons prepared by the enemy for attacks on Ukraine, it would certainly bring more safety for our civilians, our people, and our children.

‘We are working towards this and will continue to push for it every day.’

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy attends a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and other officials on September 11, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

A Storm Shadow missile is displayed at the MBDA exhibition hall during the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on July 22, 2024

Referring to the missiles from Iran, he added: ‘Russia’s use of weapons from its terrorist allies to strike at Ukraine continues their genocidal war and terrorism on our territory. We must be able to respond to such terrorism in kind by destroying military targets on their territory to ensure greater safety for our citizens.’ 

Lammy hailed the Kyiv trip as ‘the first of its kind in a decade’ at a press conference alongside his US counterpart on Tuesday, while Mr Blinken said: ‘One of the purposes of the trip we will be taking together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership including … President Zelensky about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, toward what objectives and what we can do to support those needs.

‘All I can tell you is we will be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners, we will both be reporting back to the Prime Minister, to President Biden in the coming days, and I fully anticipate this is something they will take up when they meet on Friday.’

Asked whether Ukraine would be given permission to use UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, Mr Lammy said on Tuesday: ‘It’s hugely important that we’re travelling together to hear from our Ukrainian counterparts and President Zelensky their assessment of the situation on the ground and their needs on the ground.

‘It would, however, be quite wrong to comment on the detail of operational issues in a forum such as this, because the only person who could benefit is Putin, and we will do nothing to give him any advantage in his illegal invasion.’

Meanwhile, the UK announced sanctions on 10 ships operating as part of a ‘shadow fleet’ seeking to evade the embargo on Russian oil.

The vessels, described as ‘high-volume offenders’, will now be barred from entering UK ports and refused access to the UK Ship Register.

Mr Lammy said: ‘Russia has been forced to spend over eight billion dollars (£6 billion) amassing this shadow fleet. But with sanctioned tankers loitering and unable to load oil, we are determined to make Putin’s investment an expensive misstep for the Kremlin.’