UK Sends Ukraine More Storm Shadow Missiles to Hit Russian Sites

The UK is sending Ukraine more long-range Storm Shadow missiles so it can disrupt Russian military operations targeting its civilian infrastructure before the winter, people familiar with the matter said.

The resupply of the British-made cruise missiles was discussed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the Ukrainian leader visited London on Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity about a weapons consignment that hasn’t been publicly announced.

The UK and other allies of Ukraine are shoring up support for the war-torn nation after US President Donald Trump last week announced a deal with President Vladimir Putin to release Russian diesel to the global market. Zelenskyy on Wednesday told the Piers Morgan Uncensored show that he felt betrayed by events in recent days including the diesel deal, Trump’s announcement of an energy ceasefire, and issues with Kyiv’s military access to SpaceX’s satellite technology.

The UK has been providing Ukraine with storm shadows since 2023, though their use was initially restricted to the war-zone within Ukrainian territory. In late 2024, Ukrainian forces expanded their use, firing the British cruise missiles at military targets inside Russia for the first time.

The UK considers Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to target Russian sites involved in attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure to be defensive, according to the people. Russia has ramped up production of jet-powered drones and missiles in recent weeks in order to escalate its attacks on Ukraine, and it’s important Kyiv is able to counter those efforts, they said.

The Trump administration has told Kyiv to stop drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, though they resumed on Thursday in response to continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy plants. In a sign of the tensions between British and American government positions, the people said that the UK does not believe Ukraine should halt its strikes on Russia while Moscow refuses to do the same.

The UK government declined to comment. It hasn’t said how many Storm Shadow missiles it has given Ukraine during the war, and doesn’t regularly announce transfers.

Storm Shadows, made by manufacturer MBDA, have proved highly effective at penetrating Russian air defenses and hitting military and industrial targets. The precision-guided, air-launched missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles) and are difficult to defend against because they fly close to the terrain at high speeds.

In August, Burnham announced that the UK would share blueprints for long-range missiles with Kyiv so it could assemble them in Ukraine, although that was expected to take some time to come to fruition.

Britain is also developing low-cost long-range weapons that could be deployed by Ukraine that don’t depend on the US for components and data.