Striking Deep & Hard, UK Heaps Praises On Storm Shadow Missile’s Impeccable Performance Against Russia

By
Sakshi Tiwari
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In an emphatic statement at a Parliament hearing, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace noted that the Storm Shadow long-range missiles given to Ukraine had made a “significant impact.”

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“It is my understanding its accuracy and ability to deliver the payload successfully as sent and designed by the Ukrainians have been almost without fault,” he stated at a hearing in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament on June 26.

The British Defense Secretary who announced the delivery of these long-range missiles to Ukraine last month also asserted that the Ukrainian military had used them effectively to attack Russia’s logistical centers, thus shaking up the operational and tactical control of the Russian Army.

“This shows the importance of striking the deep rear, and we encourage international partners to provide Ukraine with their long-range systems,” the official said.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the Storm Shadow missiles for “doing a very useful and accurate job at the front” with Ukraine’s counteroffensive push proceeding against Russian forces in full earnest.

The statement comes at a time when Ukraine’s counteroffensive is currently underway.

The Ukrainians recently attacked the crucial Chongar Bridge that connects Crimea to the Kherson region by firing Storm Shadow missiles. A video was also subsequently released by state media to back those claims.

The defense secretary further noted how the decision by the UK, the US, and other nations to give Ukraine numerous rocket launcher systems — HIMARS, MLRS, etc. — last summer also had an impact on the military success of the Ukrainians and compelled the Russians to relocate their command posts farther behind.

“The key thing here is to realize that if the Russians get out of harm’s way, we must work together to provide such equipment so that they are back in harm’s way [of the Ukrainians. – ed.],” Wallace concluded.

The UK is the first country to arm Ukraine with long-range strike capabilities, despite reservations by other NATO allies. After the British announcement about the shipment, France pledged to provide Ukraine with its long-range SCALP-EG missiles. However, a delivery schedule wasn’t specified.

Nevertheless, armed with Western weapons and a long-range missile, Ukrainian forces have recaptured some territories despite their equipment losses.

The Storm Shadow missiles have aided some high-value target attacks, as evidenced by several videos that regularly flood social media.

On its part, Russia has also emphasized that using such missiles was a breach of its red lines. After warning that the Ukrainian forces could strike Russian-held Crimea, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said if Ukraine uses HIMARS or Storm Shadow missiles, Moscow would strike “decision-making centers” in Ukraine.

Since the first evidence of Storm Shadows being used against the Russian positions appeared early last month, Russia has claimed to have intercepted most, if not all, of these missiles fired by Ukrainian Air Force’s Su-24MR.

However, a video going viral on social media paints a different picture and lends credence to Wallace’s recent testimony.

Russia’s Pantsir Could Not Intercept A Storm Shadow?

Around 5 AM on June 22, two Ukrainian Storm Shadow missiles struck the Chongar and Sivash bridges connecting Crimea and the Kherson region.

RuMoD on June 23 stated that its air defense forces intercepted five Storm Shadow cruise missiles during the day.

Storm Shadow missiles
File Image

RuMoD, for the first time, also released a video showing the interception of a Storm Shadow cruise missile by its Pantsir-S1 AD system.

However, on June 23, a video surfaced on social media showing a Storm Shadow missile fired by Ukraine, evading a Russian air defense system that Russian forces have extensively deployed in the ongoing conflict to protect against Ukrainian missile and drone attacks.

The Pantsir-S1 is a Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile system. It is a portable, close-range system that Rosoboronexport describes as being “able to engage a wide class of air attack weapons effectively.”

It has primarily been designed to defend against aircraft, cruise missiles, and precision-guided weapons and assist other air defense units in defending against more powerful attacks.

A Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense system IR locked a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile “at nearly point-blank range” in a video posted to social media, including by the open-source Twitter account OSINTtechnical.

OSINTtechnical tweeted: “Definitely interesting that the Russian Pantsir-S1 had an IR lock on the Storm Shadow at near point-blank range, and the 95YA6 missiles just failed to track.” Meanwhile, other pro-Ukrainian military bloggers compared the Russian miss with Ukrainian troops shooting down incoming Russian missiles with mere MANPADS.

Late last month, Ukraine’s defense ministry said that its long-range Storm Shadow missiles, given by Britain, have successfully hit all their Russian targets.

“Storm Shadow long-range missiles have hit 100% of the targets identified by the General Staff,” the ministry had tweeted.

In contrast, Russia has continued to assert in regular press briefings that its air defense forces routinely shoot down storm shadow missiles. However, with Russian logistical centers increasingly coming under Ukrainian missile attacks, speculation is rife that several Storm Shadows will end up hitting and obliterating their targets.

EurAsian Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, which has since been shared widely on social media and has become a subject of widespread discussion among military watchers, war trackers, and military experts.

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