A devastating Ukrainian missile attack struck the headquarters of Russia‘s Black Sea Fleet today. 

The Sevastopol HQ building is understood to have been hit with a Storm Shadow missile, the type supplied by Britain and France capable of holding a warhead of nearly 1000 lbs. 

Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that one person is missing, after initially claiming they had died in the strike. Initial reports suggested that six people had been wounded. 

Dozens of ambulances were reported at the headquarters in Sevastopol, the naval port in occupied Crimea.

The HQ building was on fire, had partially collapsed and suffered ‘severe damage’, according to one report.

Debris from the missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was scattered over hundreds of metres.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed that five other missiles were shot down, but one made it through its defences.  

‘According to preliminary information, people who were on the street at the time of the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters were not injured,’ said Putin appointed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

A fire continued to burn at the headquarters building, admitted the governor.

Police cordoned off two blocks around the missile-hit building.

‘The enemies launched a missile attack on the fleet headquarters,’ said Razvozhayev. 

He warned of the risk of a second attack and urged locals to stay away from the city.

‘A fragment [of a missile] fell close to the Lunacharsky Theatre. All emergency services arrived at the scene.

‘Information about the victims is being clarified. Please remain calm. And do not post photos and videos.’

The occupation official said: ‘Another attack is possible. Please do not travel to the city centre. Don’t leave buildings.

‘At the sound of the siren, everyone who is near the fleet headquarters should proceed to shelters.

‘Employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations are working on the spot.

‘Firefighters are taking all measures to put out the fire as quickly as possible. The build-up of forces and means continues.’

Prominent Russian pro-war blogger Vladimir Rogov said: ‘The headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was attacked by Ukrainian missiles.’

He said the attack was carried out ‘by British Storm Shadow missiles’, though this was not immediately confirmed.

The strike was one of the most significant of the entire war, as was the sinking of the Black Sea fleet’s flagship, the Moskva cruiser, last year. 

The Black Sea Fleet has been responsible for multiple missile attacks on Ukraine, and is central to Putin’s subjugation of around one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Other explosions hit elsewhere in Crimea including around peninsula capital Simferopol.

Ukraine has previously used Storm Shadow and Neptune missiles to target Crimea as well as kamikaze drones.

Drones were downed today in Sevastopol harbour.

The attack came as Vladimir Putin held a meeting of his security council on relations with neighbouring countries.

He was heard skirting around the attack, only mentioning ongoing developments with ‘relations with our closest neighbours and partners.’

Sylvester Stallone is known for playing Italian-American Rocky Balboa in the Oscar-winning film from 1976, but today he was caught sparring with one opponent he probably never expected to face. 

For his visit to the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City, the action star was accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Flavin, and their three adult daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet, as well as his brother, Frank. 

Playing up to his public persona, Stallone was seen in a video sparring with the 86-year-old pontiff, starting it off by saying: ‘Ready, we box.’

He then raised his fists like a prized fighter before the pope, wearing his traditional white clothes and a skullcap, did his best imitation. 

Posting about the encounter on Instagram, accompanied by an image of him holding five key rings with several keys on each, Stallone, 77, wrote: ‘Very rare and special moment. I was allowed to hold the KEYS that open EVERY single door in the entire Vatican City! Including the Sistine Chapel. 

‘Of course they wouldn’t let me out of their sight with the KEYS … I don’t blame them!’

Referring to his daughter, he said, ‘so glad we named our beautiful daughter this beautiful name, “Sistine.”‘

Stallone’s Rocky Balboa character was the child in a Roman Catholic Italian-American family, reflecting the heritage of his father.

The action movie legend was in Italy promoting his Paramount + show, ‘Tulsa King,’ set to be streamed from November 15. 

In the series, Stallone plays mafia member Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi who tries to reconnect with his gangster family after his prison release. 

Exiled from his former family, he then moves from New York to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he starts a criminal empire. 

In September last year, Stallone and his estranged wife called off their divorce and reconciled.

The couple, who have been together for 26 years, ‘decided to meet up at home, where they talked and were able to work out their differences’.

‘They are both extremely happy,’ his rep told Page Six.

Their reconciliation came one month after Flavin, 55, filed for divorce.

Pope Francis on Saturday praised Mongolia’s tradition of religious freedom dating to the times of its founder, Genghis Khan, as he opened the first-ever papal visit to the Asian nation with a word of encouragement to its tiny Catholic flock.

Francis met with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh inside a traditional Mongolian ger, or round yurt, set up inside the state palace and wrote a message in the guest book that he was visiting ‘a country young and ancient, modern and rich of tradition,’ as a pilgrim of peace.

Francis was in Mongolia to minister to one of the world’s newest and smallest Catholic communities – around 1,450 Mongolians are Catholic – and make a diplomatic foray into a region where the Holy See has long had troubled relations, with Russia to the north and China to the south.

Terrified locals living in a remote corner of Cambridgeshire are begging the council to remove a notorious railway arch dubbed ‘Britain’s most bashed bridge’ after a slew of traffic accidents. 

The Stonea railway crossing close to Ely was struck 33 times in one year as motorists were seemingly unaware of the bridges low 6ft6 dimensions before it was too late.

Residents are campaigning to improve the underpass, close to where Brian Dewey, 73, from Little Thetford was killed in a crash involving a Volvo and his orange motorbike in June. 

Simon Milburn, the area coroner for Cambridgeshire nd Peterborough has said ‘the cause of [Mr Dewey’s] death currently remains unascertained [and is] pending further investigations.’ 

James Fuller, who lives close to the Stonea railway crossing is among locals actively campaigning for action at the underpass, and claims that despite records showing the bridge has been struck 33 times, the real figure is much higher.

Mr Fuller, who has lived in the village for a year, said: ‘It’s a 6ft6 underpass here and those of us who live locally know that the bridge is struck more times than is officially recorded.

‘It’s a very dangerous location that’s not been addressed. We’ve witnessed plenty of awful smashes along with a death on the road network some weeks ago.’

Numerous drivers have found their vehicles have got wedged after ignoring the height restriction signs and attempting to drive through the underpass. The crashes not only cause damage but also long delays for other vehicles.

His neighbours, Pam Boss and Glen Lea, who have lived in the village for more than 20 years, said they believe the bridge gets hit around twice a week.

Mr Lea said: ‘We’ve been trying to get something done about that bridge for 20 years and I don’t think anything is ever going to be done.

‘We’ve been told it has not been bashed enough but they don’t take into consideration the drivers who have hit it and just driven off.

‘One reason they hit the bridge is because they come round the corner too fast and they are following their Sat Nav.’

Residents say Cambridgeshire County Council is reluctant to close the underpass because vehicles will have to use the manual level crossing and will be constantly held up as trains frequently pass.

Mr Fuller added: ‘We genuinely feel that if this road was in any other part of Cambridgeshire it would have been fixed. We feel we are the poor relations in Fenland.

‘People have been promised that changes will be made for more than 20 years and nothing is ever done about it.’

He has written to Network Rail, Cambridgeshire County Council and local MP Stephen Barclay calling for the underpass to be closed, or safety measures to be put in place, but nothing has been done.

He said: ‘It seems that Network Rail and Cambridgeshire County Council have no interest in closing it, despite how much the locals push for it. They say there’s not enough money.

‘It seems the ease of getting workers to London is a greater priority than keeping those of us who live at Stonea safe.

‘I think there needs to be a much more imaginative response to the problem and at least some measures need to be put in place, even reducing the speed of the road to 20mph would help.’

He said the layout of the road around the bridge was also ‘dangerous’ and contributed to the problems. He added: ‘The signage is insufficient and all the road markings aren’t there.’

A community relations executive for Network Rail wrote to Mr Fuller earlier this year stating that only the county council has the powers to close the underpass.

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: ‘Officers visited the site following the fatal collision and assessed the condition of signs and road markings in the area. 

‘The road markings are to be refreshed to add clarity to the road layout ahead and the advance warning signage is to be improved to better advise drivers of larger vehicles that they will need to use the overpass.

‘The bridge is the responsibility of Network Rail, who have plans to automate the crossing on the bridge, although these are currently unfunded. Until this automation takes place, it will not be possible to implement any major changes to the current layout.’

A spokesman for Network Rail said: ‘Bridge strikes are a scourge on our railway which pose serious safety issues for road and rail users and can delay tens of thousands of passengers while we inspect the bridge and repair any damage – creating cost from public funds which should be used upgrading and improving our network. We are well aware of the issues at this particular bridge and share the concern of local residents around the number of incidents here.

‘We’ve made substantial investments to improve safety for road and rail users at this site with the installation of a collision protection beam and improved chevrons have been installed by Network Rail to reduce the likelihood of future collisions. We have also met with highways representatives to recommend further traffic calming measures on the approach to the bridge.

‘Bridge strikes can be avoided. We urge operators and drivers to always know the height and size of their vehicles, carefully plan their routes and look out for road signs showing the height of bridges. 

‘Network Rail always looks to recover the repair and delay costs from the driver and the operator and reports all bridge strikes to the Traffic Commissioners for consideration of enforcement and licence revocation.’

Ukraine used a British-supplied Storm Shadow missile to hit a key bridge between Crimea and Russian-held parts of the Kherson region in Ukraine, pro-Moscow sources have claimed. 

Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed Kherson governor, said the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles were likely to have been used for the attack, which damaged the road on the Chongar bridge. No casualties have been reported.

The strike comes just two days after the Kremlin warned that it would see the UK as ‘full-fledged’ participants in the war in Ukraine if the Storm Shadow missiles hit Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. 

Images show a large hole in the bridge, revealing the water below, as well as rubble strewn across the road. The damaged bridge was still standing but the extent of the internal structural damage was not immediately clear. 

Saldo vowed: ‘There will soon be a very serious answer.’ The governor described the attack as ‘another senseless action ordered from London by the Kyiv regime.’

‘It solves nothing for the results of the special operation. Just to do harm,’ Saldo added.

Crimea’s governor, Sergey Aksyonov, said specialists were examining the site to determine when traffic over the bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian-held parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, could resume.

The crossing is the closest link from Crimea to Melitopol and is a key supply route for Vladimir Putin’s forces to the disputed peninsula, and vice-versa.

One Russian report referred to the ‘barbarous shelling of civilian objects’ in describing the bridge attack.

Acting Moscow-appointed supremo of the invaded Kherson region Vladimir Saldo said: ‘According to a preliminary assessment, British Storm Shadow missiles were used. The road surface on the bridges was damaged. There are no human casualties.’

Communication between Crimea and Kherson region continues to operate via a backup route, he said.

Alexander Kots, military correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said: ‘The enemy has begun to cut off Crimea from the Kherson region.

‘Storm Shadow missile strikes [have been made] on the bridge at Chongar – one of the isthmuses connecting the peninsula to the mainland.’

He saw the attack as evidence that Britain was now directly involved in the conflict.

This should entail ‘immediate strikes against decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine’, he said.

It comes two days after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu warned the UK and US they would be seen as ‘full-fledged’ participants in the Ukraine war if Storm Shadow and HIMARS missiles are used to hit targets in Russia or Crimea.

Shoigu warned he will target ‘decision-making centres’ in Ukraine – implying he plans to order his military to target Volodymyr Zelensky and his government leaders in Kyiv.

Shoigu said on Tuesday: ‘According to our information, the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is planning to launch strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation, including Crimea, with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles. 

‘The use of these missiles outside the area of the special military operation would mean a full-fledged involvement of the US and UK in the conflict entailing immediate strikes on the decision-making centres in Ukraine.’

His claim that Crimea is part of Russia is disputed by the West – and international law – which regards it as Ukrainian.

Russia is rattled at the power and accuracy of the Storm Shadow with a range of 155 miles, which has been fired from Ukrainian Su-24 war planes.

‘The Kyiv regime is employing a large number of Western weapons and elite formations whose personnel have been trained by NATO specialists,’ Shoigu told the collegium of the Russian defence ministry earlier this week.

So far Ukraine has used long-range British-supplied Storm Shadow and US-provided HIMARS to hit targets in Russian-occupied areas of mainland Ukraine, not including Crimea.

At least one Russian general and one colonel have been killed in Ukrainian attacks using the UK Storm Shadow missile.

Col Sergei Postovalov, 53, was fatally wounded in a 10 June strike which hit a Russian command post close to Henichesk minutes after Putin’s deputy premier Denis Manturov had visited. 

Putin was reported to have visited the site in April.

Postovalov was a colonel in the Russian Interior Ministry forces.

His death follows the killing of Russian army Major-General Sergey Goryachev, 52, in a strike in annexed Zaporizhzhia region earlier this month – also seen as in a Storm Shadow attack carried out by Ukraine’s forces. 

Last week, Yevgeny Balitsky, Moscow-appointed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine, admitted the weapons are causing ‘trouble’ and are even more problematic for the Kremlin’s armies than the US-supplied HIMARS systems.

His words confirm the impression that the long-range Storm Shadow has been a game changer for the Ukrainians as Kyiv launches its counteroffensive. 

‘They certainly give us trouble with their missiles, I must say, especially Storm Shadow,’ said Balitsky.

‘We’ve somehow learned how to shoot down [US-supplied] HIMARS.

But the [British-supplied] Shadow ones are even harder. They arrive, and have a bigger radius. So it’s a problem for us.

‘In fact, our air defence is having a hard time with [Storm Shadow].

‘It shoots them down, but there’s only a 50 per cent chance of the missiles being shot down.’ 

He added: ‘Out of four, three have recently reached us.

‘Sometimes two make it. The missile is modern, although it is not the newest, but it is fast enough, it flies properly. I mean, at different speeds, at varying altitudes, changing modes, so it is not easy to shoot down.’

Britain announced the supply of Anglo-French-designed Storm Shadows to Ukraine on May 11, answering a long-time demand from Kyiv for long-range missiles to help defend their territory against Putin’s invading armies.

Storm Shadows have also struck occupied port cities Berdiansk and Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, say reports. And the £2.2million-per-unit missiles were used to target Luhansk in the occupied Donbas.

The GPS-guided ground-hugging missiles with a 450kg warhead have a range of around 155 miles. The missiles allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian-held territory than was previously possible.

Storm Shadow is a low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously confirmed the missiles had been used by Ukraine on May 18– but declined to give further details. 

He said the missiles gave the Ukrainians the ability to strike Russian command and control centres which had been moved further behind the front line to keep them out of range of the rocket artillery systems the West had supplied to Kyiv. 

Ukraine is the only country to be publicly supplied with these missiles by the UK.

Russia faced a major bombardment today as huge explosions ripped through the occupied port of Berdiansk – with Ukraine believed to be making the most of new missiles gifted by Britain.

Footage shows the moment facilities at the port are hit with a suspected Storm Shadow missile, Britain’s most potent non-nuclear missile which can strike targets from a range of 150 miles.

A huge plume of smoke was seen rising from a location in the port area on the Sea of Azov, in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

Russian state media outlet RT said there had been ‘casualties and destruction’ from the strike, the exact target of which was not immediately clear. 

Russian-installed official Vladimir Rogov said there had been nine people reported injured. Berdiansk was first hit on Saturday in Storm Shadow missile strikes. 

Chaos was also unleashed inside Russia today, with the border region of Belgorod facing renewed attacks from the air.

Two women were reportedly killed in the Maslova Pristan settlement amid intense shelling in Shebekinsky district. 

A child and another adult were reported as wounded.

A report said an explosive device was dropped on a road from a drone.

The area is under siege from Russian anti-Putin partisans challenging the armed forces from bases inside Ukraine.

A video shows Free Russia Legion fighters inside Russia at Novaya Tavolzhanka village in Belgorod region.

Thousands of locals have evacuated border towns and villages amid fighting.

In Russian-occupied Mariupol, also on the Sea of Azov, air defences hit incoming Ukrainian missiles, according to Russian reports.

Earlier Russia faced drone attacks in Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

In a night-time attack on Berdiansk last week, which reports suggested may also have been carried out with Storm Shadow missiles, fire was seen raining down over the port.

Videos from a residential building showed a column of flames believed to be rising over the port area following the strike. 

It was claimed a Russian store of S-300 air defence missiles was struck in the attack, but there was no immediate confirmation. 

An unnamed Russian official in Zaporizhzhia verified the attack in Berdiansk, saying the city was ‘under the Kyiv regime’s fire. Explosions were heard on the outskirts [of the city]. First responders were working at the scene’. 

MailOnline was unable to immediately verify whether British missiles were used.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously confirmed the missiles had been used by Ukraine on 18 May – but declined to give further details. 

He said the missiles gave the Ukrainians the ability to strike Russian command and control centres which had been moved further behind the front line to keep them out of range of the rocket artillery systems the West had supplied to Kyiv. 

Ukraine is the only country to be publicly supplied with these missiles by the UK.

Britain also became the first country to provide long-range precision missiles to Ukraine with the delivery.

The £2.2million-per-unit missiles will allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian-held territory.

They were suspected to have been used this month when Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky sustained injuries after an attack on May 15. 

The Storm Shadow missile was first developed in 1994, but was first used by the French Ministry of Defence before being used by Britain.

The missile weighs approximately 1,300 kilograms (2,900lb), with a conventional warhead weighing 450 kilograms (990lb).

The ‘fire-and-forget’ missiles are pre-programmed before a mission and speed off at up to 621mph, reaching targets up to 350 miles away.  

The missiles were used for the first time operationally by UK forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where they were tested by the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron. 

The RAF and the French Air Force have used them against Isis. Britain also used them against Syrian forces in 2018. 

Last year, the US sent Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Ukraine to beef up offensive power.

The missiles are also capable of striking targets on land.

At around £1million-a-missile, they are significantly cheaper than the Storm Shadow missiles from Britain – but have a range capped at 150 miles and reach speeds of up to 537mph.

Both are ‘subsonic’ missiles, travelling below the speed of sound.

Defence analyst Dr James Bosbotinis said the Storm Shadow’s range allows it to hit ‘high-value hardened targets’ that ‘the adversary does not want to have attacked’ such as bunkers, as reported by Forces.net.

Ukraine also has its HIMARS rocket systems for defence, but these have a range of only 50 miles.

Russian forces have adapted by pulling their munitions out of range during clashes.

The exact number of Storm Shadow missiles sent to Ukraine has not been disclosed.

Most of the UK’s stocks have to be reserved in case of any direct conflict involving British forces.

Strategic analyst Howard Wheeldon indicated the UK could not afford to send jets as its current fleet is too small to defend the British Isles.

He told the Mail: ‘All credit to the UK government for its fast response and actions, but the sad fact is that after providing an unquantified number of probably time-expired Storm Shadow missiles, the UK has little else it can give.’

John Lewis boss survives… but massive revolt casts a shadow: Sharon White set for new showdown as firm’s partners voice their anger

By Patrick Tooher, Financial Mail On Sunday

Published: 16:50 EDT, 13 May 2023 | Updated: 06:25 EDT, 14 May 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

POPULAR MONEY SECTIONS
Take me to…

Russian soldiers will be ‘shaking with fear’ at the UK’s decision to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles amid Kyiv‘s upcoming counteroffensive, a retired US Army Colonel said today. 

Gian Gentile, who served two tours in Iraq, said the deadly missiles may be catastrophic for Russia‘s war efforts as they will allow Ukrainian troops to hit Russian soldiers and command centres deep into Moscow-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Gentile, the associate director of think tank RAND’s Arroyo Centre in the US, said the delivery of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine will have a huge psychological impact on Russian soldiers, whose levels of morale are already at ‘rock bottom’ amid heavy losses on the battlefield.

In the face of the Storm Shadow missiles, US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems and armoured fighting vehicles that can destroy tanks, Russian troops will be ‘shaking in their boots’ with fear ahead of Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive, Gentile said.

‘Discounting all of the bluff and bravado of Russian political leadership and senior generals who are far, far away from the front line, the Russian troops fighting there will be shaking in their boots about the prospect of this likely upcoming counteroffensive,’ Gentile told MailOnline.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, 197,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, according to Kyiv’s estimates. And Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive could prove deadly for thousands more – especially with the weapons supplied by Western allies including the UK and US.

Yesterday, UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace confirmed that Britain is sending the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, a decision that prompted a furious response from the Kremlin.

‘We see this decision as an extremely hostile step from London, aimed at further pumping weapons into Ukraine and leading to a serious escalation of the situation,’ Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday. 

Gentile, also a senior historian at RAND, said the move to provide the weapons is significant for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 

The Storm Shadow missiles, which have a firing range of more than 155 miles, will give the Ukrainian troops the ability to strike ‘high-end targets like command and control nodes, logistic supply points, and potentially troop concentration areas deep in Russian held territory in Ukraine,’ Gentile said.

The retired colonel said this is ‘significant’ as it extends the striking range of US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems currently in use and frees up the HIMARs for other missions.

He pointed to how, in the past, if Ukrainian troops had wanted to strike a Russian logistics base in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, they would have to move the HIMARS very close to the embattled city. 

‘But now, with the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, they have the capability to strike this kind of target but from a distance,’ Gentile said.

‘This is a big deal. It will help Ukraine and it will further complicate Russian defensive measures as they will now have two longer range strike missiles to worry about and defend against.’

Gentile added: ‘And let’s not forget the psychological effect the introduction of the Storm Shadow cruise missile can have on the Russian military in Ukraine whose levels of morale are at rock bottom.’

The Storm Shadow is an air-launched long-range missile, designed for attacks against high-value targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure. 

The missile, jointly developed by the UK and France, has a firing range of more than 155 miles (250km) which means Kyiv would be able to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine where the fiercest battles are ongoing.

Dr Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the think tank Henry Jackson Society, told MailOnline: ‘Providing Ukraine with Storm Shadow Missiles gives Kyiv the long-range striking capabilities it needs in advance of a highly anticipated rise in the Russian offensive.

‘The precision-guided weapons would allow Ukraine to strike targets anywhere in the country. 

‘This is a critical kit and an essential boost in our support allowing Ukrainian forces to reach behind enemy lines and giving them the best chance of defending themselves against Putin’s aggression.’

Announcing the decision to supply Ukraine with the Storm Shadow missiles, Wallace told the Houses of Parliament yesterday: ‘The donation of these weapons systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality, especially with the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law. 

‘Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself.’

Britain has received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would be used only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia, multiple senior Western officials said. 

Wallace said the missiles would be used to push back Russian forces in ‘Ukrainian sovereign territory’, while adding that the UK’s support for Ukraine is ‘responsible, calibrated, coordinated and agile’.

‘We simply will not stand back while Russia kills civilians,’ Wallace said.

Wallace did not say how many cruise missiles were being sent to Ukraine, but said they are ‘now going into or are in the country itself’. 

Britain and other Western countries have scaled up their military aid for Ukraine this year, with Britain saying in January it would send 14 of its main Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a pledge that was followed by other nations including the United States and Germany.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Munich Security Conference in February that Britain would be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer range weapons. 

The United States said in February it would provide the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which has a range of about 151 km.

The war in Ukraine is at a turning point. Kyiv is expected to unleash its new counteroffensive after six months of keeping its forces on the defensive, while Russia mounted a huge winter offensive that failed to capture significant territory.

Moscow’s main target for months has been Bakhmut, which it has come close to capturing but not quite taken in what would be its sole prize after months of the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two. 

Kyiv says it has pushed Russian forces back over the past two days near Bakhmut in small-scale local assaults, but a counteroffensive involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of new Western tanks has yet to begin.

Today, the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that Ukrainian forces have counter-attacked Russian positions around Bakhmut – as the warlord mocked Kremlin defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

‘The situation on the flanks is shaping up according to the worst predicted scenario,’ Prigozhin said, signalling fresh misery for Putin‘s troops.  

‘Those territories, which were taken with the blood and lives of our comrades-in-arms for many months, every day, by tens or hundreds of metres are now being thrown almost without a fight by those [Russian army soldiers] who are supposed to hold our flanks.’

Prigozhin then directly addressed the long-suffering Shoigu.

‘Given your super long experience, please can you come to Bakhmut?’ he asked sarcastically, poking fun at the defence minister’s civilian background in engineering.

President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to manage expectations around the pushback in Bakhmut, telling reporters the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive was yet to begin in earnest and declaring: ‘We still need a bit more time.’

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar added later Friday: ‘The enemy has suffered great losses of manpower. Our defence forces advanced two kilometres (around one mile) near Bakhmut. We did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week.’ 

Moscow has since denied the reports of Ukrainian counter-offensives in Bakhmut and said the frontline is under control.

‘Statements circulated by individual Telegram channels about ”defence breakthroughs” that took place in different areas along the line of military contact do not correspond to reality,’ the Russian defence ministry said in a Telegram post.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile told Russian news service TASS that the military operation in the east of Ukraine was ‘very difficult’ but ‘certain goals have been achieved’. 

Ukrainian forces have been training a new contingent of forces and stockpiling Western-supplied munitions and hardware that analysts say will be key to reclaiming territory captured by Russia.

The timing of Kyiv’s effort to claw back ground in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, remains a question.