VIENNA, May 17. /TASS/. The UK government is just as guilty as the Kiev regime for the civilians who died in Ukraine's shelling of Donbass, something that could not have happened had London not transferred Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Kiev, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, said.
"By supplying Kiev with Storm Shadow long-range air-launched cruise missiles, the British government has significantly increased military tension in the region. <…> London simply trampled on its international export-control obligations, rushing to test ‘the red lines’ in this conflict. That is exactly why the British side shares responsibility with Kiev for the civilian casualties in Donbass and will be held accountable for its actions sooner or later," Gavrilov said on Wednesday at the 825th plenary meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced on May 11 the transfer of Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles to the Kiev regime. He said that the missiles had an operational range of 250-300 km. Over the past week, the Ukrainian military shelled the Lugansk People’s Republic with these missiles. As a result of the shelling, several civilian facilities were damaged, and civilians were injured, including six children.