Andy Burnham’s agreement to provide Ukraine with blueprints to produce long-range missiles could make a “real impact” in the country’s war against Russia and increase the pressure on President Vladimir Putin, experts have said.
Ahead of a visit to Ukraine on Monday, his first foreign trip as British Prime Minister, Burnham announced that he would allow European defence firm MBDA to declassify information on UK components for the long-range Scalp missile, the French-produced version of the UK’s Storm Shadow.
Ukraine and France are looking to set up local assembly lines in Ukraine to produce the deep precision strike missiles, which use shared French and British technology.
Kyiv has for years been using the missiles, supplied by its allies in limited quantities, to strike targets in Russia, but is now expected to use its new capabilities against military targets, as well as building up its strikes on oil refineries, creating fuel shortages for Russians.
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