The United Kingdom has delivered Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, giving Ukrainian forces a new long-range strike capability ahead of a long-awaited counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops.

As CNN reports, citing several senior Western officials, the Storm Shadow is a long-range cruise missile jointly developed by the UK and France. It is usually launched from the air.

Having a firing range of more than 250 km or 155 miles, it is only slightly behind the 185-mile US Army's Air-to-Air Combat Missile System (ATACMS).

Most importantly, Storm Shadow has a sufficient firing range to strike deep into the areas of Ukrainian territory that are temporarily occupied by Russia.

A Western official told CNN that the Ukrainian government had assured the UK that the missiles would only be used within Ukraine's sovereign territory and there would be no strikes on Russian territory.

UK officials often make public statements defining Crimea as Ukrainian sovereign territory, calling it "illegally annexed".

The Storm Shadow is "a real game changer from a range perspective", said a senior US military official. The official added that the missile provides Kyiv with the capabilities it has been asking for since the beginning of the war.

This is not the first time the UK has gone further than the US in terms of the weapons it is willing to send to Ukraine to combat Russian aggression. The country was the first Ukrainian ally to announce that it would send modern Western tanks to Ukraine, pledging 14 Challenger 2 tanks in January. Only after London's move did the US announce that it would provide M-1 Abrams tanks.

Earlier this year, Rishi Sunak, the UK Prime Minister, made it clear that the country is considering providing long-range weapons to Ukraine (Ukr).

Discussions regarding the transfer of long-range Harpoon anti-ship missiles or Storm Shadow air-to-surface missiles to Ukraine were reportedly held in the UK back in February.