Ukraine has fired long-range British Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time, a day after launching United States-made long-range missiles into the country, British media outlets report.
Russian war correspondent accounts on Telegram posted footage on Wednesday they said included the sound of the missiles striking in the Kursk region, which lies on Ukraine’s border. At least 14 huge explosions can be heard, most of them preceded by the sharp whistle of what sounds like an incoming missile. The footage, shot in a residential area, showed black smoke rising in the distance.
People in Kursk also reportedly found fragments from the missiles in the region.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his office would not be commenting on reports or operational matters.
Britain had previously said Ukraine could use Storm Shadow cruise missiles within Ukrainian territory, but London has been pressing Washington for permission to allow their use to strike targets inside Russia for several months.
On Tuesday, Ukraine used US-made long-range weapons to strike targets in Russia. US President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Kyiv to use these missiles in and around the Kursk region only.
Afterwards, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks. Washington said afterwards it had not seen any reason to adjust its nuclear posture while China called for restraint.
In another US policy shift on Wednesday, Biden authorised the use of antipersonnel landmines in Ukraine. Washington also announced a $275m military aid package for Ukraine, including ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), artillery shells, Javelin surface-to-air missiles, and small arms and ammunition.
The US policy shifts come as Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than 1,000 days, is at a volatile juncture. Nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory is in Russian hands. North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, and there are growing doubts over the future of Western aid as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House in January.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig said the decision to authorise the use of antipersonnel landmines is likely in line with a US attempt to help Ukraine slow down Russian advances in its east to gain more leverage in future peace talks.
“The Biden administration is on its way out, and we have President-elect Donald Trump coming into office, who has criticised US military aid to Ukraine and has also said he would end this war in a matter of days,” Baig said.
“So what the US administration wants is to put Ukraine in a very strong position to at least slow down some Russian advances so that when there are negotiations, Ukraine is put in a more advantageous position than what it is now,” he added.
The US is not a signatory to a 1997 convention banning landmines, but Biden had pledged to limit their use.
The Russian government said Washington’s actions show the US wants to prolong the war, and it has promised to respond.
Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin warned in an interview published on Wednesday that Moscow would retaliate against NATO countries that facilitate long-range Ukrainian missile strikes against Russian territory.
Foreign embassies on alert in Kyiv
In Kyiv on Wednesday, the United States shut its embassy due to what it called the threat of a significant air attack.
Later, after an air raid siren in the early afternoon jangled nerves in Kyiv, Ukraine’s military spy agency said Russia was trying to sow panic by circulating fake online messages about a massive looming missile and drone attack.
“The enemy, unable to subdue Ukrainians by force, resorts to measures of intimidation and psychological pressure on society. We ask you to be vigilant and steadfast,” it said.
A US government source said the embassy closure was “related to ongoing threats of air attacks”.
The Italian and Greek embassies said they too had closed. Meanwhile, the French embassy remained open but urged its citizens to be cautious. The German embassy in Kyiv said it would remain open but in a limited capacity.
Separately on Wednesday, Ukraine’s parliament changed its military mobilisation rules and agreed to allow Ukrainians who have been released from Russian captivity to defer from fighting, according to The Kyiv Independent newspaper. Soldiers can also be released from service after the killing or disappearance of a family member, the report added.
Kyiv also said it shot down 56 of 122 drones and two out of six missiles launched by Russia on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Moscow said its forces destroyed a Ukrainian military unit in the Olgovskaya Roshcha area in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have taken territory after Kyiv launched an offensive there in August.
On Wednesday, a Reuters news agency report said Putin is open to discussing a ceasefire with Trump but has ruled out making any major territorial concessions and has insisted that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted to the Reuters report, saying “any option of freezing this conflict will not work for us”.
Speaking at a news conference, he said it is important for Russia to achieve its goals, “which are well known to everyone”.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Peskov was referring to Russia’s demand for Ukraine’s neutral and nonaligned status, the security of Russian borders and Kyiv’s refusal to deploy foreign weapons on its territory.