KYIV, Ukraine —
The British government said Monday that the multiple-launch rocket systems it is offering to Ukraine will bring “a significant boost in capability” for the country’s efforts to resist Russia’s invasion.
“If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win” its war against Russia, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.
The statement came after comments Sunday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine.
The British government described the M270 weapon system as a “cutting edge” military asset which can strike targets up to 50 miles away “with pinpoint accuracy.” Britain pledged last week to send the weapons but gave no details about delivery dates.
The U.S. last week announced plans to deliver $700 million in security assistance for Ukraine, including four precision-guided, medium-range rocket systems, as well as helicopters, Javelin antitank systems, radars, tactical vehicles and more.
Washington and London hope that the deliveries will help Ukraine turn the tide of the war in its eastern Donbas region, which Russia appears intent on capturing entirely.
They are unlikely to have an immediate impact, however. The Pentagon said last week that it would take at least three weeks to get the U.S. weapons onto the battlefield. Russia-backed separatists have fought the Ukrainian government since 2014 in the Donbas.
The U.S. has stopped short of offering Ukraine longer-range weapons that could fire deep into Russia and inflame Washington’s tensions with Moscow.
Russia’s own use of missiles in Ukraine, meanwhile, continued to pummel targets, with the Russian military claiming Monday that it had struck a Ukrainian factory involved in repairing armored vehicles.
Russian warplanes fired long-range missiles to destroy the plant on the edge of the town of Lozova in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Russian aircraft hit 73 areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment, while the Russian artillery struck 431 military targets, Konashenkov said. His claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Putin vowed to strike deeper into the heart of Ukraine if the West sends Kyiv longer-range missile systems. In a show of force, Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Sunday.