THE prime minister of the united kingdom has been asked repeatedly in recent days whether his government has given the “green light” to Ukrainians to use British Storm Shadow ballistic missiles. Keir Starmer has consistently avoided answering directly, saying, among other things, that if he gives operational details, the only winner will be Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The truth, of course, is that London has long been pressing Washington to allow the Ukrainians to use long-range missiles to hit targets on Russian soil. It is typical that Keir Starmer, during his visit to the USA, before the American elections, at the beginning of September, had raised the issue with President Biden, who, however, had then refused to give his consent. As some analysts jokingly note, “it seems that the re-election of Donald Trump made him change his mind”.

The British government may not confirm its approval of the use of Storm Shadow by the Ukrainians, but Moscow has taken it for granted. That is why the Russian president, in his last speech, made it clear that the United Kingdom is no longer a simple ally of Ukraine but a country fully involved in the war. The Russian ambassador in London emphasized the same when asked by Sky News. “Britain is now directly involved in this war, because this launch could not have happened without NATO personnel, but also British personnel”, Andrey Kelin underlined, among others.

However, it is worth noting that the number of Storm Shadow missiles that Ukraine currently has is very limited, according to military analysts. The production of these missiles is an extremely time-consuming and costly affair. So the damage they ultimately do to Russia will only have a very specific, small-scale, military impact.

Be that as it may, London appreciates that Western efforts should be redoubled to strengthen Ukraine militarily. In this context, British Defense Minister John Healy – on the occasion of the thousandth day since the start of the war, last Tuesday – announced new financial support to Kiev amounting to 9 million. euros for the purchase of attack and surveillance drones. He said the UK would continue to support Ukraine as it has done since day one, training 50,000 new recruits and supplying weapons, drones and military equipment.

On the same wavelength and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who, in a joint article with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barot, emphasizes, among other things, that France and Britain will not let Putin “achieve his goals. Together with our allies, we will make every effort necessary to put Ukraine in the best possible position to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

With these and the others London looks extremely anxious. “Perhaps nervous,” some say. It is typical that within 24 hours, three times the Special Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team was called to check suspicious packages. The first outside the American embassy in London, a little later in Gatwick, the second busiest airport in the country, and the third in Houston, one of the most popular train stations in the British capital. In two of these three cases, they even carried out controlled explosions for precautionary reasons.

When the Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Rob Magowan, was asked by members of the House of Commons Defense Committee whether the British Armed Forces were ready to fight the Russian army, he characteristically replied: “If the British Army were asked to fight tonight, they would he did.”