May 3, 2024
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The British government said Thursday that it sent long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine to help drive out Russia’s occupying forces, an announcement made as Kyiv said it had delayed a long-expected spring counteroffensive while awaiting the delivery of more Western weapons.
Britain is donating Storm Shadow missiles, a conventionally armed deep-strike weapon with a range of more than 150 miles, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
The air-launched missiles would allow Ukrainian forces to target locations deep behind the front line, including in Russia-occupied Crimea. The invaded country has pledged not to use them to attack Russia itself, U.K. media reported.
Wallace said the missiles “are now going into or are in the country itself.” He didn't say how many were being provided.
The announcement came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s military needs more time to prepare for the anticipated counteroffensive.
Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Thursday by the BBC that it would be “unacceptable” to launch the assault now because too many lives would be lost.
“With (what we have), we can go forward and be successful,” Zelenskyy said in the interview, according to the BBC.
“But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable,” he was quoted as saying. The interview was reportedly conducted in Kyiv with public service broadcasters who are members of Eurovision News, including the BBC.
“So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying. “In terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet.”
A Ukrainian fightback against Russia's invasion has been expected for weeks. Ukraine is receiving Western training as well as advanced weapons for its troops as it gears up for an expected assault.
The British move gives another boost to the Ukrainian military after it received other advanced Western weapons including tanks and long-range precision artillery.
While a counterpunch is possible as the weather in Ukraine improves, there has been no word on when it might happen. Zelenskyy’s remarks could be a red herring to keep the Russians guessing, and ammunition supply difficulties faced by both sides have added more uncertainty.
A claim by the Ukrainian military on Wednesday that its troops had advanced up to 1.2 miles around the hotly contested eastern city of Bakhmut brought speculation that the counteroffensive was already underway.
Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Operational Command East, told The Associated Press that the fighting and forward movement was not the “grand counteroffensive, but it’s a harbinger showing that there will be more such attacks in the future.”
But, the head of Russia’s private military force Wagner that has spearheaded Moscow's battle for Bakhmut, claimed the Ukrainian counteroffensive was “in full swing,” with Ukrainian forces advancing “on the flanks” around Bakhmut.
“Unfortunately, in some areas they’re doing it successfully,” Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said.
