UK to Dispatch Hundreds of Advanced Missiles to Ukraine Amid Escalating Conflict

Ahead of a crucial summit, it has been revealed that the UK will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional short-range missiles. This announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used the platform of the summit at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to urgently request permission to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets deep within Russian territory.

During the summit’s opening, Zelensky highlighted the dire situation in Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces are under intense pressure from Russian military advances, underscoring the immediate need for enhanced military support.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey, present at the summit, is set to officially announce a £162 million aid package. This package includes 650 Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM), aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defense capabilities against ongoing Russian aggression.

He said the new package would give an “important boost” to Ukraine’s air defences and show the government was “stepping up” its support.

But Prof Michael Clark, the former director-general of the defence and security think tank Royal United Services Institute, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the supply would likely be “exhausted within a couple of months”.

He said Ukraine needed “more of everything at the moment” given the intensity of Russian advances and bombardments.

Lightweight with precision guidance, LMMs have low collateral damage and a range of more than 6km (3.7 miles), according to manufacturer Thales. Hundreds have already been delivered to Ukraine.

In July, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer committed to sending £3bn a year to Ukraine for as long as needed.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the UK has committed a total of £12.7bn, including £7.6bn in military support.

Meanwhile the United States, Kyiv’s largest military backer, said it would provide a further $250m (£189.9m) in military aid.

Mr Zelensky arrived in Ramstein on Friday morning, just days after a Russian missile attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine killed at least 51 people.

In an appeal to international allies, he said: “It’s important that every support package that is announced is promptly put to work on the battlefield without any delay.

“The fighting in the Donetsk region depends on this – if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not have any achievements here, he will not have any achievements anywhere.”

Mr Zelensky also called on Western allies to authorise the use of long-range missiles to attack targets within Russia, saying it was the only way to bring about an end to the war.

In a direct appeal, he said: “Now we hear that your long range policy has not changed. We think it is wrong that there are such steps. We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine but also on Russian territory.”

The UK previously said Ukraine had a “clear right” to use British-provided weapons for “self defence” which “does not preclude operations inside Russia,” following Kyiv’s surprise cross-border incursion last month.

However, this excludes the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles in territory outside Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders.

The US provided long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this year, but like Kyiv’s other Western allies these have not been authorised for use on targets inside Russia.