Putin officials blame Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles for the devastating attack on Mariupol
The Kremlin has blamed Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles for a devastating long-range attack on war-torn Mariupol as Ukraine battles against its Russian occupiers.
Ukraine’s once fiercely defended city, now in the Russian-controlled sector of Donetsk, reported two rocket attacks on Friday as a months-long siege early in the war left much of the city in ruins.
Two successive attacks hit the besieged city, one of which reportedly hit the Azovstal steel mill, where Ukrainian forces once fought to repel the Russian onslaught.
The Kremlin state news agency Tass quoted an unnamed official as saying the missiles were long-range Storm Shadows, which Britain delivered to Ukraine this month.
Britain delivered the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine earlier this month. With the long-range missiles, Ukraine could strike deep into the Russian-occupied territory.
Mariupol in the Russian-controlled sector of Donetsk reported two rocket attacks on Friday
The Storm Shadow missiles allow Ukraine to hit Russian troops and logistics hubs deep behind the frontline
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima during the G7 summit on May 20, 2023
Two strikes hit the city’s industrial area, Russia’s pro-war Rybar Telegram channel with 1.1 million followers said.
Ukraine has not yet taken responsibility for the attack, or said it had used the Storm Shadow missiles.
The missiles, jointly developed by the UK and France, have a firing range of more than 250 km. This would mean that Kiev could strike deep into Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine, where the fiercest fighting is taking place.
Britain’s delivery of the Storm Shadow missiles was announced earlier this month by Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and welcomed by Ukraine.
The missiles, which cost about £2.
2 million, will allow Ukraine to hit Russian troops and logistics hubs deep behind the frontline and deal a major blow to Vladimir Putin.
Britain had received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would only be used within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not within Russia, several senior Western officials said.
Following the strikes, Kremlin-appointed Mariupol chief Oleg Morgun told residents to “keep calm and trust only official sources of information.”
RT claimed that Russian air defenses attacked the missiles in the cityscape of the infamous siege of Mariupol between February 24 and May 20 last year, which reportedly left more than 10,000 dead.
RIA Novosti quoted officials in the pro-Putin People’s Republic of Donetsk as claiming that the incoming strikes came from British Storm Shadow missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with officials at the Kremlin on May 26, 2023
Two consecutive attacks hit the besieged city of Mariupol, one of which reportedly hit the Azovstal steel mill
Ukraine’s once fiercely defended city of Mariupol, now in the Russian-controlled sector of Donetsk, reported two rocket attacks on Friday
Another port on the Sea of Azov – Berdiansk – was hit today for the second day in a row by another suspected long-range missile strike by Ukraine.
Stormy shadow
The Storm Shadow, also known as SCALP, is an air-to-surface missile capable of hitting fixed or stationary targets.
Length: 16ft 9in
Range: 350 miles
Speed: 1000 km/h
Both are strategically important as entry points for Putin’s forces into Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova pointed to Britain for incursions by anti-Putin partisans into Russian territory close to Ukraine — claiming that Moscow could sever diplomatic ties with London.
“We do not exclude that the English participated in planning, organizing and supporting terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime on the territory of Russia, including providing intelligence,” she said.
“As has been emphasized repeatedly, Russia reserves the right to take appropriate action as and when deemed necessary.
“All responsibility for the consequences of London’s destructive activities rests entirely with the authors and perpetrators of these reckless acts.”
The severance of diplomatic relations was an “extreme measure that should not be ruled out, taking into account all factors,” said Zakharova, spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.