LONDON, June 28. /TASS/. UK diplomats maintain ambiguity on the issue of whether the Ukrainian military has been permitted to use UK missiles for strikes on the Russian territory, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin told a TASS correspondent.
"We discussed whether they are using the [UK-supplied] weapons for [attacks on] the Russian territory with the Foreign Office and with the UK ambassador to Moscow. They are deliberately dodging the question in an attempt to maintain ambiguity, saying the same thing - [the weapons] are being supplied for defensive purposes," the Russian diplomat said.
He said that Russia understands specifics of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, describing them as "advanced weaponry launched from planes."
"We are absolutely convinced - although the Britons fail to admit this - that these missiles require very complicated service maintenance. Flight planning and target designation need to be performed by highly skilled operators. Of course, they are not Ukrainians, we are absolutely sure of it. This can be done only by those involved in their production, those who underwent lengthy training on how to use these missiles," the ambassador said.
Yury Sak, adviser to Ukrainian Strategic Industries minister, told Bloomberg on May 29 that the United Kingdom had authorized Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian facilities.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dodged the question of whether he supported use of UK-supplied weapons for strikes on the Russian territory on several occasions.