The unprecedented firing by Ukrainian forces of British-made long-range Storm Shadow missiles at military targets inside Russia last week means the UK, along with the US, is now viewed by Moscow as a legitimate target for punitive, possibly violent retaliation.
Just a few days after his forces fired an “Oreshnik” ballistic rocket at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Vladimir Putin has vowed to fire more hypersonic missiles into the country.
Ukraine is suffering from North Korean missiles, partially owing to Western components used in the munitions.
In the attack on Dnipro, Russia test-launched the Oreshnik, which Putin described as a “cutting-edge medium-range system” equipped with a ballistic missile that carried a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.