British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will travel to Kyiv on Monday for Ukraine's independence day, using his first foreign trip in office to announce the declassification of UK-made components for Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles. The move, allowing European defence firm MBDA to share technical data, is intended to help Ukraine develop its own long-range strike capability.
Burnham will co-chair a coalition of the willing meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, joining remotely, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The visit follows a deadly drone strike on a Kryvyi Rih shopping centre on Friday that killed at least 16 people, and comes as Kyiv warns it has exhausted US-made Patriot interceptors.
Russia, which accused Britain of deliberately escalating the conflict, has withdrawn its ambassador from London without naming a replacement. Zelenskyy, whom Burnham hosted at Downing Street shortly after taking office in July, is seeking hundreds of additional air-defence missiles ahead of winter.