Russia will target British-made weapons being shipped to Ukraine

A video showing a British-made Starstreak missile has been doing rounds. It shows a Russian helicopter being targeted, also marking the first time the missile in question has been seemingly used in Ukraine. The video caught the attention of Russian forces almost immediately.

The video from the Luhansk region shows the Russian Mi-28N helicopter snap into two after it gets hit, before it plunges to the ground.

Ukraine began receiving the Starstreak missile from the UK last week. Talking about the weapon in question, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said more “lethal aid” is being sent to Ukraine, which includes other long-range weaponry. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has also said that defensive support to the tune of 6,000 missiles is headed for Ukraine.

Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin has responded to the footage:  “All arms supplies are destabilising, particularly those mentioned by [Ben] Wallace. They exacerbate the situation, making it even bloodier. Apparently, those are new, high-precision weapons. Naturally, our armed forces will view them as a legitimate target if those supplies get through the Ukrainian border.”

He’s also told Russian media that British media has been biased in favour of Ukraine. British weapons are just the cherry on top of the cake of support being given to Ukraine.

The strike comes at a time where Ukraine has taken back some of its territories from Russian troops already, while Putin’s soldiers seem to have slowed down advances as well, seemingly in favour of peace talk.

The Starstreak system allows for a sophisticated laser-guided attack, which is 3x faster than the speed of sound. It is extremely helpful in taking flying objects out of the sky.

Britain has been supplying other training and fighting equipment to the country as well.

It’s a bad time for Putin as his misguided ambitions seem to mostly have backfired against him. The MoD has also suggested that a fire recently took out several oil tanks that could have helped Russian forces.

“The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia’s already stretched logistic chains. Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkiv (60km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected,” MoD said.

All one can do at this point is wonder what Putin was thinking to begin with. Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to put up an intense and admirable fight.