Brimstone surface–to-surface missiles, which the UK plans to supply to Ukraine, will allow "destroying" Russian warships. This was stated by Lieutenant General, ex-Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Igor Romanenko in an interview with the Observer portal published on October 21.
The Times newspaper reported yesterday that the UK is negotiating with Ukraine for the first time on the sale of weapons against the background of Kiev's fears regarding Russia's use of the gas crisis to seize the territory of the republic. It was clarified that the Ministry of Defense is discussing the sale of Brimstone missiles capable of hitting groups of targets simultaneously: they are planned to be placed on ships in service with the Ukrainian Navy. The British Ministry of Defense, in turn, explained that we are talking about a deal that was made public in June of this year.
Romanenko clarified that Ukrainian patrol boats with British missiles mounted on them "will be able to launch missile strikes against Russian warships." According to him, Brimstone can also be used for ground targets.
The general noted that due to the presence of such weapons, Ukraine will have the opportunity to "respond more powerfully to Russia's provocations."
At the same time, Romanenko drew attention to the fact that Kiev should look for "asymmetric ways of waging war," while arming boats with Brimstone missiles is one of such solutions.
Earlier, on October 21, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko said that the supply of weapons to Ukraine from the West will not contribute to the settlement, but may encourage Kiev to carry out new provocations in the Donbass. According to him, the settlement in the Donbass should be carried out "not through military ways of supporting Ukraine, but through putting enlightening pressure on it."
Member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Adalbi Shkhagoshev, in turn, noted that the possible supply of weapons to Ukraine can be called a provocation. He explained this by saying that the Ukrainian crisis needs to be resolved through diplomatic means, including Kiev's implementation of the Minsk agreements.
On October 11, advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich said that the United States had supplied the country with a new batch of lethal weapons. According to him, Washington provided Kiev with weapons due to the risk of escalation of the conflict with Russia.
Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass since 2014, who refused to recognize the results of the coup in the country. The Ukrainian authorities blame Moscow for the current situation. The Russian Federation has repeatedly stressed that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict, and called on Kiev to settle with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
