Overnight Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least six people, including a six-month-old baby and a 12-year-old girl.
The brutal attacks smashed the country’s heating and power system in Kyiv, with dozens of others wounded after the attacks.
NATO was forced to scramble two F-16 warplanes from Borcea, Romania, as the strikes came close to the River Danube border.
Two German Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft also left from the Romanian air base to carry out ‘enchanced air policing’ missions.
The Romanian defence ministry said in a statement: ‘Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s lack of respect for the norms of international law and endanger not only the safety of Romanian citizens, but also the collective security of NATO.’
The strikes came after Vladimir Putin’s fury over Ukraine’s use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to destroy the Bryansk Chemical Plant, which produces gunpowder, explosives, and rocket fuel components.
Putin has turned his attention back to Ukraine after postponing a planned peace summit with Donald Trump, infuriating the US leader.
‘I don’t want to have a wasted meeting, I don’t want to have a wasted time,’ Trump said.
Ukraine followed up its Storm Shadow missile strike in Bryansk by hitting a major Russian explosives plant in Saransk.
An oil depot in Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea, was struck by drones flying more than 700 miles to strike their targets.
The latest attacks are some of the largest on Russian oil facilities, which have deepened Putin’s economic turmoil by raising petrol prices and inflicting fuel shortages across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were a sign of a lack of resolve by the West to provide his country with the long-range missiles it needs to strike back at Russia.
What are Storm Shadow missiles?
Storm Shadow is a low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA.
Their capability to dodge air defences makes them a nightmare attack weapon for their enemy.
The GPS-guided ground-hugging missiles with a 450kg warhead have a range of around 155 miles.
This allows the Ukrainian army to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the frontlines.
What other weapons does the UK supply to Ukraine?
In addition to the Storm Shadow missiles, the UK has also sent Challenger 2 tanks, millions of rounds of ammunition, and hundreds of boats and land vehicles to help Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
The US has also supplied a large amount of supplies to the war-stricken country, donating US air defences and other weapons.
Ukraine embraced the use of US-supplied cluster munitions to keep the summer 2023 offensive going, even though they are prohibited by more than 100 countries over human rights concerns.
It was in August 2023 that Ukraine liberated the village of Urozhaine, in Donetsk, with the use of cluster munitions.
They also supply HIMARS, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, to Ukraine.
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