Trident puts Scots 'more at risk' as Ukraine fires UK-Storm Shadow missiles into Russia

Ukraine was previously restricted to using the long-range missiles within its own borders only.

The war-torn country fired US-supplied long-range missiles into Russian territory for the first time on Tuesday after being granted permission by Washington.

Reports this morning suggest Ukraine has now also fired UK-supplied long-range missiles at Russian targets as well.

This comes as the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament warns the Trident nuclear deterrent in the Clyde puts Scots at risk.

Lynn Jamieson from the campaign told The National: “Nuclear weapons in Scotland - all they do is threaten mass death for all of us, both the people who are targeted and us with targets on our backs.

“This kind of bluff and counter-bluff while Putin is actually being attacked by long-range missiles shows that deterrence does not work, it just makes us more at risk.”

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The UK Government has so far refused to comment on the reports its weapons were used by Ukraine, but officials confirmed Defence Secretary John Healey spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the House of Commons, Mr Healey said: “Ukraine’s actions on the battlefield speaks for itself.”

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has also declined to confirm his country has used UK Storm Shadow missiles within Russian territory, but added Ukraine was “using all the means to defend our country”.

Russia has yet to respond to the development, but Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told Russia’s RIA state news agency that western politicians were continuing “their line of inflicting a strategic defeat on our country”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on his western allies to authorise the use of long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, saying it is the only way to bring about the end of the war.

Storm Shadow are Anglo-French cruise missiles with a range of up to 250 kilometres. Once launched from an aircraft, they fly at close to the speed of sound.