British-supplied long range Storm Shadow missiles have given Ukraine the ability to strike deep into the occupied territories and will “make Russians pay” for their brutal full-scale invasion, analysts have said. Multiple Storm Shadow missiles are already in the conflict regions, according to UK defense secretary Ben Wallace, with more on the way, and Russia is now being forced to relocate their ammunition supplies behind the 155 mile range of the cruise missiles. George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said the Storm Shadows would have a “terrible effect on the morale” of Vladimir Putin’s Armed Forces.
Britain’s supply of long-range Storm Shadow missiles represents a major U-turn among the Western supporters of Ukraine.
Until now, Western allies had refused to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons that threaten positions within Russia.
Powered by a turbo-jet engine, the 1,300kg Storm Shadow missile travels at speeds of more than 600 mph, is just over five meters long and has a wingspan of three meters. Its manufacturer, MBDA, claims it has a range of 155 miles, 105 miles further than the US-supplied HIMARS currently in Ukraine.
Britain received assurances from the Ukrainian government these missiles will not be used to strike within Russia, according to multiple senior Western officials, but the artillery will allow the defending forces to strike logistics hubs and military bases deep inside the occupied regions from a safer distance with devastating effect.
“It’s going to have a terrible effect on morale for the Russian forces, and officers and commanders who are going to be operating within Ukraine,” George Barros told Insider.
“It’s just going to degrade the overall Russian war effort. The Ukrainians are very capable of making the Russians pay.”
Putin’s forces in Ukraine have maintained a tactic long-employed by the Russian Armed Forces in which territory is razed to the ground with artillery before the infantry move in. The maneuver leaves cities and other regions devastated but minimizes the number of soldiers lost in battle.
To carry this out effectively, they have depended heavily on staging massive amounts of artillery shells near the front lines to sustain a high rate of fire.
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Beyond this tactical headache for the Russians, it will allow Ukraine to instill a fresh sense of fear into Moscow’s commanders, who previously thought they were out of range.
Higher-ranking Russian military officials reside deep in Ukraine’s occupied territory and may have previously felt safe so far from the frontlines.
Russian commanders now understand that Ukraine has the potential capacity to deliver a warhead right to their location, Mr. Barros said.
“So the more that these Russian commanders are exposed to Ukrainian fires, I expect their survivability to decrease,” Mr. Barros said.
