Leaders in the United Kingdom and Ukraine are urging American officials to allow Kyiv to carry out direct attacks on Russian soil with the powerful British Storm Shadow missiles, according to multiple reports.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is allegedly taking a “consultative approach” in pushing the US to team up with Britain to allow precise strikes in Russia with Storm Shadows, according to the Telegraph.
For the attacks to be successful, the missiles need the aid of American intelligence and reconnaissance, as well as other “classified” systems to circumvent Russian jamming, one source familiar with the talks told the Financial Times.
The Biden administration has maintained that Ukraine must only use long-range weapons to defend itself against Moscow, forbidding strikes deep inside Russia’s territory.
Ukraine is calling on the US to lift such restrictions and allow the Storm Shadow to be used more offensively, touting the missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles, as one of its most successful tools in the war.
The weapons made headlines last year when they reportedly “liquidated” Russian Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov when he was stationed in an occupied Ukrainian city.
They were also used to take out Russian ships and naval facilities in Crimea that same year, one of the first major deep strikes against the Kremlin.
Russia had previously tried to downplay the effectiveness of the Storm Shadow, claiming the missile hasn’t caused any “critical” damage to the Kremlin’s forces.
While Starmer and UK officials are vouching for the use of the Storm Shadows, sources told the Telegram that the politicians are aiming for a more diplomatic approach after US and British officials butted heads under the previous Tory government’s approach to arming Kyiv.
The US has urged its NATO ally to take a more conservative approach to approving long-range attacks into Russia over fears that the war will escalate and drag the allies directly into the combat.
Amid the tension, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call to lift the restrictions on Tuesday following a massive missile and drone barrage fired by Moscow that killed at least four people and caused major damage to the nation’s energy grid.
“There cannot be long-range restrictions in Ukraine, when terrorists do not have such restrictions,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “America, Britain, France, other partners have the power to help us stop terror.”